PM orders inquiry into Murree child trafficking

Asks authorities to submit report within a week

ISLAMABAD: The prime minister has sought a detailed report on child trafficking in Murree within seven days and has directed the authorities to take strict action against people involved in the heinous crime.

High officials in the PM House said that the premier had taken notice and ordered a probe.

The story titled Alarming: Over 150 trafficked children in Murree’ was highlighted in The Express Tribune on January 22.



According to the report as many as 176 street children in Murree were internally trafficked from other areas of the country.



This was the crux of a report, titled “Listen to My Voice”, conducted by local non-governmental organisations Acting For Life, Group Development Pakistan, SACH and VISION. The report, funded by the EU, states that there are around 1,504 street children in the hill station. Of these, 11.88%, or 179, were found to have been trafficked.

Of these, children as young as three years old and as old as 17 were internally trafficked and brought to Murree in large numbers.



Furthermore, the study found that children between the ages of 12 to 14 constitute about 35% of the documented street children in the hill station.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th, 2017.