Stop Human Trafficking
It’s hard to imagine that a world which talks about love, peace and
brotherhood amongst fellow human beings has a dark secret staring and mocking
at its true reality. Pakistan is listed in the Tier II list of the UN which
includes countries which have failed to combat human trafficking. The
concept of trafficking denotes a trade in something that should not be traded
in.
Human trafficking as defined
by the UN is, “the recruitment, transportation, transfer,
harbouring or receipt of persons by means of the threat or use of force or
other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of
power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of
payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over
another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at
a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of
sexual exploitation, forced labour or service, slavery or practices similar to
slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.”
It is a really sad situation which Pakistan
is facing. In almost every city there are certain parts filled with brothels.
Human trafficking includes sexual exploitation, labour trafficking, etc.
Nowadays even cross-border human trafficking is prevalent. Pakistan has a huge
population and because of that and our dwindling economy many people live below
the poverty line. The smugglers and traffickers promise them a better life- a
ray of hope, jobs as domestic servants, in the film world or in factories. They
can offer them money, pleasure trip invitations or false promises of marriage.
The main targets are the people who
lack job opportunities, who have been victim to regional imbalances or social
discrimination, mentally disturbed, or the people who have growing deprivation
and are from the marginalized communities or people caught in debt bondages or
because their parents think that their children are burden and sell them off –
in simple words- the poor, helpless people are the ones who are exploited the
most.
It has now become an organized
institution and we as youth have to do everything to remove this social vice
from our country because the deliberate institutionalized trafficking of human
life is the greatest degradation to the dignity of human personality. Human
trafficking happens because of a simple concept which the traffickers believe
in- that the human body is a expendable, reusable “commodity”. Several things
happen during a “human being sale” from selecting, tricking, intimidation and
deception of the victim to the transportation of them to the “location”. Then
comes the possible change to the “central place” where the actual trafficking
takes place in large numbers, there are many elements involved.
The recruiters are the first in the chain –often called as the “dalals” – they
may be parents, neighbours, relatives or lovers or people who have been
trafficked before. The dalals move to the “potential sites” for
victims which mostly are the poverty-stricken areas where there has been no
proper rehabilitation and then they haunt the bus stops, railway stations,
streets, etc. The period they choose for trafficking depends on if that place
has suffered a drought or social or political disasters recently, so that it
would be easier to lure in the already suffering victims. The dalals use drugs, abduction, kidnapping,
persuasion or deception to bag the targets.
The dalals usually happen to know many languages,
including the local one, so that they become closer to the victim. Because in Pakistan
corruption is so deep rooted, the network of such people sometimes includes the
police, the visa/passport officials, taxi/auto rickshaw drivers, etc. They hand
the victims to the brothel owners, escort services, or managers of a sex
establishment. The reasons for human trafficking are many, despite 60 years of independence,
the benefits of economic development have not trickled down to the marginalized
sections of the society and millions of people still live below the poverty
line. The poverty and hunger makes children and women belonging to the poor
sections of the society highly vulnerable to human trafficking. Social and religious
practices too have been a big cause. There is an inexplicable apathy in the
approach of law enforcement agencies when it comes to dealing with human
trafficking. Purposes include forced prostitution, marriage, domestic labour, bonded
labour, agricultural labour, industrial labour, entertainment, begging,
adoption, drug smuggling and peddling and organ transplants .As Pakistan sees
towards the world, it leaves behind the scars on its ground –the poor who are
exploited . We can take help of the media-spread awareness. The government, in
association with the NGO’s, is taking steps to improve the situation but this
much is NOT enough.
We as responsible citizen
should stop this. Even little things like helping out the malnourished, poor or
treating the house maids properly can make a difference because they form the
major causes for human trafficking. Multinational enterprises that enter
the Pakistani economy can lead by example. They can refuse to do business
with companies that knowingly engage in the inhumane practices of employing
bonded laborers.
The Pakistani government has laid down laws
Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking
Ordinance, 2002
An
ORDINANCE
to prevent and control Human Trafficking
An
ORDINANCE
to prevent and control Human Trafficking
WHEREAS
the offences relating to traffic in human beings are incompatible with the
dignity and worth of human being and endanger the welfare of the individual,
the family and the community.
AND WHEREAS it is expedient and
necessary to provide effective measures to prevent offences related to human
trafficking and to protect and assist victims of such trafficking
AND WHEREAS the President is
satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary to take
immediate action
NOW, THEREFORE, in pursuance of
the Proclamation of Emergency of the fourteenth day of October, 1999, and the
Provisional Constitution Order No. 1 of 1999, read with the Provisional
Constitution (Amendment) Order No. 9 of 1999, and in exercise of all powers
enabling him in that behalf, the President of the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan is pleased to make and promulgate the following Ordinance: -
1. Short title, extent and
commence ment.
2. Definition. In
this Ordinance, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context
3. Punishment for human
trafficking.The human trafficking shall be punishable as under.
4. Offences committed
by organized criminal groups. ---Where an organized criminal group is guilty
of any offence under clauses (i),(ii),(iii) or (iv) of section 3, the term of
imprisonment or each member of such group involved in the commission of such
offence shall not be less than ten years imprisonment and may extend to
fourteen years where the purpose of trafficking of a victim is exploitative
entertainment and shall also be liable to fine.
5. Repetition of
commission of offences. --Whoever repeats the commission of an offence under
this Ordinance, the term of imprisonment may extend to fourteen years and the
off under shall also be liable to fine.
6. Compensation to the
victim. The court trying an offence under this Ordinance may where
appropriate direct:
7. Proceedings under
the Ordinance to be in addition to and not in derogation of any other law.The
proceedings under the Ordinance shall be in addition to and not in derogation
of any other proceedings initiated under any other law for the time being in
force.
8. Offences to be
cognizable etc.All offences under the Ordinance shall be cognizable, non
bailable, and non-compoundable as construed by the Code.
9. Investigation.
Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code or any other law for the time
being in force, the investigation of the offences under the Ordinance shall
be carried out by only such persons or agencies as are specially empowered by
the Government in that behalf.
9. Investigation.
Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code or any other law for the time
being in force, the investigation of the offences under the Ordinance shall
be carried out by only such persons or agencies as are specially empowered by
the Government in that behalf.
10. Cognizance of
offences etc. No court inferior to that of a Magistrate of the First Class
shall try an offence punishable under this Ordinance.
Notwithstanding anything contained in section 32 of the Code, it shall be lawful for a Magistrate of the First Class to pass any sentence authorized by this Ordinance.
11. Indemnity.No
suit, prosecution or any other legal proceedings shall lie against the
Government or any other person exercising any power or performing any
function under this Ordinance or the rules made thereunder for anything done
in good faith.
12. Power to make rules.
The Government may, by a notification in official gazette, make rules to
carry out the purposes of this Ordinance.
GENERAL
PERVEZ MUSHARRAF President. |
The emerging scenarios are certainly positive but displaying
full-page advertisements against child labour, women slaves, etc in national
newspapers at periodic intervals is not enough. We have to wake up before it’s
too late. We can take up community surveillances which will help check ongoing
trafficking activities. Establishing women’s groups which will help take care
of the women in the underprivileged societies since women and girls are the
most affected victims. We as the responsible citizen can take up initiatives to
spread awareness programs in villages, local schools, among kids of the poor
society and children suffering from parents and poor conditions where help can
be provided.
Another initiative which can be taken
up is the involvement of the trafficked victims and helping them tell their
story so that this kind of inhuman treatment doesn’t happen to others. Human
trafficking lowers the value of human life; it brutalizes the society and
violates our belief in the human capacity for a change. So let’s work for a
better future for our country and CHANGE- something that Pakistan only talks
about, let’s turn it into reality.
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