SIALKOT: Khizar Abbas’ dream of reaching Italy ended in Iran when he wasarrested with a number of other illegal migrants. But, he told Arab News,he was one of the lucky ones.“Iranian (smugglers) shot four of our group just because they were tiredand pleaded for some water and rest for a few minutes,” he said. “Thishorrifying scene haunts me.”
Abbas, a resident of Mandranwala village in Sialkot, Punjab, left forMashkel, a border town in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province on Nov. 9, alongwith 30 other men who aimed to reach Europe through Iran.
“The agents kept us in a small room for two days in Mashkel which wasalready crammed with around 200 men aged between 20 and 35,” he said,explaining that they then a group of around 250 men then met up withIranian agents for the next leg of their journey, to Turkey.
The Iranian “agents” divided them into small groups and took them via themountains to Tehran.
“All of us were thinking that we had put our lives at risk,” he said.“Almost all of us wanted to return, but the agents thrashed those who askedto be released with canes.
“We were lucky that our group was arrested at a checkpoint at the outskirtsof Tehran,” Abbas continued. He said a large number of men and women fromPakistan and Afghanistan were already being held there.
Having been held in a number of different detention centers, Abbas returnedhome on Nov. 29 and is back to running a general store to make ends meet.
Abbas’ deal with the agent was for $6,000 till Greece, but he only paid$3,500 because he was arrested and deported from Iran. His elder brother isalready in Athens for the last 7 years and earning well there. So, they arewell off and did not sell anything.
“It was just lure of Europe that pushed him to take the risk.”Thousands of Pakistanis risk their lives each year to travel to Europe insearch of better jobs with the help of human traffickers, but the majorityend up in jail or dead.
In November this year, 20 people attempting to cross the Pakistan-Iranborder illegally, with help from local and Iranian smugglers, were killedby militants in Turbat, Balochistan.Following an investigation into that incident, Pakistan identified 14Iranian human traffickers and letters have been sent to Interpol requestingtheir arrest.
“Agents in Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Germany were in contact with localagents in Quetta and those in Iran for getting these intending emigrants toItaly and Germany through Iran, Turkey and Greece,” a 25-page reportprepared by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) revealed.
“Letters have been issued to Interpol and MoFA (Ministry of ForeignAffairs) to contact Iranian authorities and apprehend 14 Iranian agents,”Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal informed the National Assembly in awritten response.
Talking to Arab News, Minister of State for Interior Affairs TallalChaudhry said the government has resolved to take stringent measures tochoke the notorious human trafficking land route from Pakistan to Iran.
“We have conveyed our concerns to Iranian authorities through officialchannels and asked them for a wider crackdown on human smugglers operatingon their soil,” he said, referring to a meeting between the directorgeneral of the FIA and his Iranian counterpart last week.
The minister revealed that Pakistan has also shared intelligence aboutsmugglers operating in Turkey, Greece and Germany with the relevantauthorities and requested a crackdown from them as well.
“Iran has assured us of full cooperation to arrest the human smugglersoperating on its soil,” he said. “We can bring the illegal migration ofPakistanis to Europe down to a minimum only if other countries like Iran,Turkey, Greece and Italy cooperate with us.”
Human smuggling and trafficking is often quoted as the third most lucrativesource of organized-crime revenue after weapons and drugs, amounting toover $32 billion per year.
The FIA told Pakistan’s Supreme Court in a report that 6,767 Pakistanisentered European countries illegally through Iran in 2017 alone, while27,749 were deported — 18,810 from Iran; 4,401 from Turkey and 4,538 fromEU countries.
The report says that the most common route for illegal migration isoverland from Pakistan to Iran,Turkey and then Greece.
“The illegal migrants leave Pakistan via unmanned or unofficial bordercrossings located along unfrequented routes into Iran,” the report says,identifying Pakistan’s Gujranwala district as “the origin of the majority”of them.
“Pakistani nationals are among the 10 most-detected nationalities thatattempt irregular migration to the European Union and Australia,” says aUNODC report.
Another Mandranwala native, 45-year-old Amjad Ali, reached Greece in 2002after six months travelling on foot from Iran to Turkey. He remained thereuntil 2014.
“I worked at a dairy farm in Greece for 12 years, earned a lot of money,but I would still suggest aspiring illegal migrants don’t risk their livesjust for the dream of a better life,” he told Arab News.
Amjad paid $4,000 to the smugglersDespite the fact that every time an illegal migrant is killed, Pakistaniauthorities vow to take action, the FIA report revealed, “No proper law tocontrol human smuggling has been enacted.”