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Combating Human Trafficking In Pakistan

Human Trafficking in Pakistan
Every year, the U.S. State Department publishes a report on the status of human trafficking around the globe. It ranks countries using a tier system from one to three. A score of one signifies that a country is combating human trafficking at a highly proficient level. A score of three signifies that there is ample room for improvement. In 2020, Pakistan received a Tier 2 Watch List rating for its handling of human trafficking in Pakistan.

The biggest obstacle standing between Pakistan and a Tier 1 rating is the prominence of bonded labor. Bonded labor is when a person, whether a man, woman or child, must work in order to pay off a debt. This labor is intense and usually takes place on farms or in brick kilns. The amount of debt is often ambiguous and laborers do not receive clear contracts. On some occasions, human traffickers force entire families into bonded labor under unclear terms for open-ended spans of time. While there is still work to do, Pakistan has made major strides in the right direction.

Starting the Conversation

In order to resolve any crisis, the first step is effectively communicating that a problem exists. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has successfully pinpointed hotspots where human trafficking in Pakistan is most prevalent. These hotspots are the primary targets of hundreds of thousands of posters and flyers informing the general population of the human trafficking problem. The posters and flyers display a message that is loud and clear. “Stand up against human trafficking and migrant smuggling, it is illegal, unethical and un-Islamic.” That phrase is especially powerful, as more than 95% of Pakistanis are believers in the Islamic faith.

Cracking Down

Pakistan first took measures to combat human trafficking at the national level back in 2002. Since then, the Pakistani government has been working to pass more legislation to effectively resolve the problem.

In 2018, Pakistan passed the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act (PTPA). The PTPA calls for prison sentences ranging from two to 10 years for labor and sex trafficking violations as well as fines of up to $6,460. Prison terms are steepest when the victim is a child.

Under the new PTPA and existing Pakistani laws, more than 1,000 human trafficking investigations took place in 2019, according to the most recent State Department report. As a result, the country made 161 convictions and there was a specific uptick in convictions related to bonded labor in comparison to the previous year.

Uncovering New Networks

Human trafficking in Pakistan is not limited to its borders. Elaborate trafficking networks between Pakistan and China have recently come to light.

A growing problem is the arrangement of fraudulent marriages between young Pakistani women and Chinese nationals. The Chinese nationals lead the Pakistani women to believe they are law-abiding, financially well-off citizens. However, upon arrival in China, several women have reported that the men do not fit the profile the women initially received. Instead, many women discover that their “husbands” have bought them in order to use and sell them as sex slaves. Fortunately, some Pakistani women have escaped these situations and are fighting back.

Activists Emerge

Survivors are drawing more attention to the trafficking of women between Pakistan and China. Women who have escaped provide valuable intel. Their knowledge is critical to breaking the cycle of human trafficking between the two countries.

Saleem Iqbal is a Pakistani gentleman devoted to providing safety and security (which his name literally means in Arabic) to victims. He has been working diligently to aid in the escapes of young Pakistani women from China and gain a deeper look into how these trafficking rings operate. Iqbal ensures that the women receive care and that others listen to them upon their return to Pakistan. While it is difficult at times for survivors to talk about the horrendous conditions they faced in China, the information is invaluable. With survivors and people like Iqbal working together, police can gain a much better picture of who to investigate and where.

Moving Forward

Human trafficking in Pakistan remains a high priority issue and the country can certainly take more steps to combat it. The silver lining is that there is a solid foundation to build on. That foundation includes the U.N. working to raise awareness, government officials passing new legislation and survivors providing intel to law enforcement. With all of these parts working in tandem, Pakistan is one step closer to attaining a Tier 1 rating.

– Jake Hill
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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Five Facts About Human Trafficking in Pakistan

Human Trafficking in Pakistan
At only 15 years of age, a Pakistani girl named Zunaira Muhammad was forced into slavery and this was the price she paid for her dreams of becoming a software engineer and having an education. This happened when a kindly neighbor promised to pay for Zunaira’s education if she would come live with her and do some household chores. Unwittingly, Zunaira’s mother agreed. Zunaira went to live with her neighbor, Ayesha Ashfaq. Instead of providing a little girl with an education, Ashfaq lured Zunaira to Dubai, forced her to work in a beauty parlor, sold her into sex slavery, and tortured her when she resisted. After she managed to escape she said that her whole life is destroyed as she cannot pursue studies due to the stigma attached to her.

Zunaira is only one story among millions of young people, especially young girls, who are kidnapped, trafficked and sold into slavery around the world. There are about 46 million people living in slavery today, and over 3 million of them are enslaved in Pakistan, making it rank eight in the Global Slavery Index. In the text below, the top five facts to know about human trafficking in Pakistan are presented.

Five Facts About Human Trafficking in Pakistan

  1. In 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report, Pakistan was upgraded in Tier 2 by the U.S. Department of State. This means that the government of Pakistan does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but is still making significant efforts to do so. For example, the government increased the number of victims it identified and intensified its investigations into sex trafficking and prosecutions of human trafficking workers. At the same time, the government efforts are inadequate compared to the scale of the problem. The biggest issue is corrupt officials. However, the government does not hold officials accountable or investigate into allegations of trafficking by officials. These problems, along with the extent of human trafficking in Pakistan, keep Pakistan at Tier 2.
  2. Pakistan’s largest human trafficking problem is bonded labor. During bonded labor, a worker assumes an initial debt, but as they work, the debt gets bigger and bigger so they can never pay it off. In this way, it entraps other family members, sometimes lasting for generations. Other human trafficking problems in Pakistan include prostitution slavery, forced marriages, child soldiers, manual labor and forced begging. Forced begging is a situation in which traffickers make children beg on the streets to earn money, sometimes even maiming them to gain sympathy money. Trafficking rings have a structured system in place for each of these crimes, including selling victims in a physical market.
  3. In 2012, 823 victims of human trafficking in Pakistan sought help in shelters. Three-quarters of these victims were female and 60 of them were minors. According to Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency, 30 to 35 traffickers operate in Punjab, Pakistan’s largest province. In 2012, 40 officials were under investigation, one was dismissed, and 33 were punished for complicity in human trafficking. Currently, the estimated number of Pakistani people living in slavery is 3,186,000. This means that almost 17 out of every 1,000 people in Pakistan live in slavery, while 74 people out of every 100 are vulnerable to slavery.
  4. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) joined the European Union (EU) to launch The Global Action to Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants Act (GLO.ACT) in 2017. Pakistan joined this program in July 2017. This project will include six responses: strategy and policy development, legislative assistance, capacity building, regional and trans-regional cooperation, protection and assistance to victims of trafficking and smuggled migrants and assistance and support to children among victims of trafficking and smuggled migrants. The GLO.ACT also includes a public awareness campaign. To raise awareness, whether as a warning or as a call to action, UNODC distributed 300,000 flyers and 80,000 posters throughout the four districts of Punjab and Balochistan, where most trafficking takes place.
  5. The U.S. Department of State also recommended actions for Pakistan, led by the plea to pass an anti-trafficking law that criminalizes all forms of human trafficking. If Pakistan takes these actions, such as implementing the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for victim identification and referral to rehabilitation services, they can start to move to Tier 1, which means that a country does meet minimum standards for human trafficking.

Though many trafficking victims live without hope, there can be light at the end of the tunnel. With help from organizations and governments such as UNODC and the U.S. Department of State, human trafficking in Pakistan will continue to decrease. As for a young girl from the beginning of the article, she, despite her fear of traffickers, still plans to defy the odds and apply for college, and her father promised to help her purchase books in the market on his meager salary. Her story is one of redemption, and hope for the future of Pakistan.

– Natalie Dell
Photo: Flickr