'Emigration bureau failed to check human smuggling'
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Jan 13: The Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Pakistanis failed to check human smuggling to Malaysia by not issuing a timely warning, a member of the Senate Standing Committee on Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis said here on Thursday.
The committee, which is probing the bureau for its failure to check smuggling of Pakistanis, had asked the ministry to initiate action against employment promoters issuing fake advertisements to recruit people for Malaysia.
At the time the committee directed the ministry to initiate action, the officials had expressed complete ignorance about any fake employment promoter sending people to Malaysia.
Talking to journalists, Senator Enver Baig said the bureau seemed to have absolved itself of the responsibility to check illegal practices of the employment promoters by issuing a press release warning the public to beware of fake agents.
He said instead of completing the formalities by issuing a warning to the public, the bureau should come out with details of any concrete action taken against illegal and fake recruiters for Malaysia.
Senator Baig said under the relevant clauses of the Emigration Ordinance, it was the job of the bureau to take action against fake recruiters and not that of the FIA or the interior ministry alone.
He said the officials of the bureau had been passing the buck of its failure to check illegal smuggling to the FIA or the interior ministry. Senator Baig said the bureau had been trying to hide the facts in certain investigations against employment promoters by giving incomplete information to the Senate.
He asked the ministry to place the relevant record before the committee so that officials involved in corrupt practices could be identified. He said the committee's recommendations to revamp the system for promoting employment for Pakistanis in foreign countries and handling government-to-government manpower export more effectively were yet to be implemented.
