Over 800 human traffickers arrested, FIA tells Nisar

In 2015, at least 28,072 Pakistanis arrived in Europe, out of which 19,712 of them had landed in Greece and Italy

ISLAMABAD: More than 800 human traffickers have been arrested across the country in the past three months, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) informed the top security czar on Wednesday.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had convened a meeting to review the agency’s performance. He was informed that the FIA had carried out over 70 raids, mostly in Punjab, and arrested 827 human traffickers: 218 proclaimed offenders, 13 most wanted by the agency, 71 declared proclaimed offenders by the courts and 525 involved in different cases.





According to the FIA, the accused were involved in illegally sending people to different countries, especially Europe, through isolated routes via Greece, Iran and other countries.

Nisar said human traffickers defame Pakistan abroad and take advantage of people who are victims of poverty.

While he expressed satisfaction over the agency’s performance, he stressed that it needed to be improved this year.

The FIA also claimed to have recovered Rs11.46 billion in 2014-15 from the possession of several accused who had robbed different people.

In 2014 around 21,000 Pakistanis who had entered Europe without permission were ordered to return home.

The next year at least 28,072 Pakistanis arrived in Europe, and 19,712 of them had landed in Greece and Italy.



Islamabad security

The federal capital’s police chief, Khalid Khattak, informed the meeting that the police had devised a comprehensive security plan for 1,172 schools, 25 media houses and other important installations in the city.



Nisar told him that he would personally monitor the security arrangements, and asked the police to ensure that members of the public are not harassed during search at checkpoints.

The minister also directed the administration to issue a special ticket for registered vehicles so the commuters could avoid unnecessary problems during search at checkpoints.

The meeting was also informed that the Safe City Project would be made functional in the next two months. The project was supposed to be completed in October last year.

Under the project, a bombproof command centre is being built over 2,009 square metres, with all cameras connected through 500 kilometres of fibre optic cables and operated through a 4G network.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th,  2016.