MULTAN:Secretary Housing South Punjab Javed Akhtar Mehmood said on Tuesday that main cause of human trafficking was poverty and steps should be taken to address root cause of socio-economic issues including bonded labour, child labour, human trafficking and some others.
He said this while addressing an awareness seminar organized by Sustainable Social Development Organizations (SSDO) here at local hotel.
The title of the seminar was “War against Human Trafficking and Bounded Labor in Pakistan and South Punjab”. This dialogue was attended by the officers of the civil administration, police, prosecution, officer of labour and social welfare department of 11 district of South Punjab.
The objective of this session was to create awareness about the impact of this issue on Pakistan. In the session, the relevant laws, procedures were discussed and the role of different departments was identified. Javed Akhtar Mahmood said “ poor people become the fuel of human trafficking due to their dreams for a better future”.
He said that legislation must be enacted to stop human trafficking. Apart from this, some other measures to alleviate poverty and control on rising population. Javed stressed practical steps annihilate bounded labor and child labor.
Every citizen should play role for this purpose. Vice Chancellor Bahauddin Zakaria University Professor Dr. Mansoor Akbar Kundi said that human trafficking in Pakistan started in 2009 and termed sex, labor and money were the three main reasons.
He said that human trafficking was also done for human organs. Kundi remarked that Bahauddin Zakariya University was ready to extend its full role to create awareness about human trafficking.
Addressing the session, Deputy Secretary South Punjab Secretariat Ali Atif Butar appreciated the efforts of SSDO and commended the NGO for close coordination with the Punjab government to strengthen the capacity of officers at the provincial level. “Human trafficking is a heinous crime that needs to be prioritized through concerted efforts at all levels,” he said.
AIG Rana Ashraf also participated in the session. Addressing the participants, he detailed the efforts of the Punjab Police and said that the Punjab Police was working with determination to serve the people. He also advocated the need to create more awareness at the local level because no case can be registered or prosecuted without consent of the victim himself. Similarly, many times the victim does not report the case.
Legal expert Waqar Haider Awan informed the participants about the legal framework in Pakistan to deal with human trafficking and also clarified the difference between human trafficking and migrant smuggling which is often being confused and cases are misinterpreted. . He further clarified some provisions of the Traffic in Persons Act, 2018.
Officers from various departments including District Administration, Punjab Police, Labor Department, Prosecution and Academia participated in the meeting. The purpose of the session was to discuss the challenges faced by Pakistan regarding human trafficking.
The session also highlighted Pakistan’s progress in fighting this scourge.
Executive Director SSDO Syed Kausar Abbas said that SSDO was implementing a plan to prevent human trafficking by focusing on maximum awareness.