*ISLAMABAD*: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday informedthe Supreme Court that the practice of women trafficking to Afghanistanbased on fake documents has stopped, a local media outlet reported.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice MianSaqib Nisar had directed the FIA in July to bust groups involved in womentrafficking.
The FIA in its report informed the court that action was underway againstgroups involved in the crime. The Supreme Court admitted the report andwrapped up the case.
In July, the bench heard a case pertaining to trafficking of women toAfghanistan. FIA’s director general had informed the court about the stepsbeing taken for recovery of women trafficked to Afghanistan.
In May 2017, two Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) officials werearrested and formally charged by the FIA for their involvement in theillegal trafficking of three Afghan women, who were caught using fakeboarding passes to board a UK-bound flight from Islamabad’s Benazir BhuttoInternational Airport.
An FIA-lead initial investigation into activities of the five arrestedsubsequently unearthed a sizable human trafficking network. The ringleaderof the group was also identified by the FIA.
During the investigation, the arrested Afghan women shared that they hadpaid $20,000 in Kabul as a fee for being trafficked to London.
According to reports, Pakistan is a key route for global human traffickingnetworks. The Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance (PCHTO)was promulgated in October 2002, before which there was no adequate law totackle with the menace of human trafficking.