Sackings in FIA

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The recent removal of FIA director general Ahmed Ishaq Jahangir has the potential to blow the lid off the maelstrom of corruption infecting our immigration and labour export systems. The federal government claims Jahangir was removed due to poor performance with regard to the FIA probe into the recent deaths of several Pakistanis who were onboard a capsized ship carrying illegal migrants to Greece. The government claims Jahangir had not enforced strong measures against human traffickers and lacked control over his agency.

This might have been believable if his removal had not come within days of some 65 FIA officials being suspended for migration-related offences and within hours of a new set of removals relating to the recent Greek boat tragedy. Instead, Jahangir's removal raises serious questions about accountability and integrity within Pakistan's governance. The move appears to be less about justice and more about shielding the powerful and preserving the status quo. After all, there has not been a time in the last 20 years that human traffickers have not been associated with political bigwigs. Suspected human traffickers have even held government positions, yet not a single one has had to face public scrutiny, even after running afoul of the law in other countries.

Given this, sacking Jahangir makes it clear that the government wants heads to roll, as long as those heads have no political connections. Even before Jahangir got the job, hundreds of Pakistani illegal migrants were dying in similar incidents. If the government thinks Jahangir was so bad that he merited sacking, taxpayers are entitled to know more about his alleged misdeeds. An open, public inquiry should be held into the circumstances around his removal, along with a public update on the FIA's investigation into human trafficking in Pakistan. Illegal migration is a problem that should transcend party politics, and any party that opposes such an investigation probably has something to hide.