Why people smuggling can’t be stopped, asks PM

ISLAMABAD  -  Prime Minister Sheh­baz Sharif Wednesday directed Interior Min­ister Rana Sanaullah to supervise the investiga­tion and formulate nec­essary legislative pro­posals regarding the complete prevention of human trafficking.

He also directed the investigation commit­tee regarding the Greece shipwreck incident to fi­nalize its proceedings and present its report as soon as possible.

A high-level meet­ing with respect to the Greece boat incident was held here under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Shar­if. Expressing anger over the incident, the prime minister ques­tioned why the crimi­nal activities of human smuggling could not be timely stopped. 

He asked why con­crete preventive mea­sures were not taken despite repeated hap­penings of such kind of incidents. The prime possible. A high-level meet­ing with respect to the Greece boat incident was held here under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Shar­if. Expressing anger over the incident, the prime minister questioned why the criminal activities of human smuggling could not be timely stopped. 

He asked why concrete pre­ventive measures were not tak­en despite repeated happen­ings of such kind of incidents. The prime minister direct­ed the relevant authorities to bring all those responsible for human smuggling to justice as soon as possible.

Federal Ministers Rana Sanaullah, Marriyum Aurang­zeb, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Fatimi, DG FIA, Chief Secretary Azad Jammu and Kashmir and other relevant high officials were present in the meeting. On June 14, a boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Greece, in which 104 peo­ple have been rescued alive, out of which 12 are from Pakistan. 

So far, a total of 79 bodies have been recovered from the sea. The meeting was told that the coordination cell established in the Ministry of Interior was working 24 hours, where fami­lies of missing persons can con­tact anytime.

The meeting was informed that after the incident, a total of 10 FIRs had been registered while 15 people had been ar­rested, including the main ac­cused of the incident. 

It was told that an organised network from different coun­tries is involved in human traf­ficking.

The prime minister direct­ed the FIA to promptly com­plete the detailed investigation of the matter and to take effec­tive measures to prevent it. The prime minister also directed Commissioner Gujranwala to identify the agents involved in the heinous act of human traf­ficking in the Gujranwala dis­trict and bring them to justice immediately. 

The prime minister directed the relevant institutions to re­main in constant contact with the families of the victims. He also directed the Pakistani em­bassy in Greece to stay in touch with the Greek authorities re­garding the incident.

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