ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Embassy in Athens (Greece) has asked the authorities in Islamabad to do the needful to stop human trafficking from the country as they dispatched at least 20 dead bodies of Pakistani immigrants in December 2017 alone, The Nation has learnt on good authority. 

The Pakistani immigrants perished while illegally crossing into Europe as no end seems to the desire among Pakistani youngsters to enter Europe through whatsoever means.

According to Pakistan’s Athens embassy, many of the smuggled Pakistani teenagers and mid-aged women have become sex workers as they are unable to move to mainland Europe.

“Last month alone, I dispatched around 20 dead bodies. Today, upon our request, local authorities are searching for three more dead bodies,” lamented the ambassador in a letter addressed to the Pakistani authorities in January 2018.

“In Greece, they (immigrants) end up in detention centres. Some apply asylum to buy time and stay on. As they do not find any job, they are trapped by criminals. Many of them perish on the way, bringing agony to their families. Apart from other crimes, many of the smuggled Pakistani teenager boys and mid-aged women have become sex workers and look for clients every evening at public places,” said Pakistan’s embassy in Athens. 

According to the letter, a copy of which is exclusively available with The Nation, the ambassador was now sick with the unchecked human smuggling mainly from the districts of Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Gujranwala and Sialkot that is ‘hurting Pakistan all around.’ The letter said that Greece is currently facing debt/economic crisis.

“The unemployment rate is as high as 40 per cent (official 23 per cent) and even the seasonal labour market particularly in the field of agriculture has become quite limited. Our immigrants also have no prospects in the near future to move to mainland Europe as the doors are shut by the EU presently,” it added. 

The ambassador further said that some young boys wish to be deported back to Pakistan but International Organisation for Migration doesn’t oblige underage children due to their regulations and EU laws. These boys are penniless. Hence they have become a financial liability for the embassy, he lamented.

He said in the absence of any identification papers of these Pakistanis, the work of the embassy has been multiplied.

“The embassy has been trying hard to address the issue locally to the extent possible and the issue has also been raised before in Pakistan. It is a very serious issue requiring immediate attention as it has already become unmanageable,” read the letter. The Ministry of Interior has especially been requested to take steps to curb this ‘senseless’ human trafficking.