30 January 2005	Sunday	19 Zilhaj 1425

PESHAWAR, Jan 29: Human trafficking from Pakistan has increased sharply as more than 100,000 illegal immigrants were deported to the country in two years who had travelled to western countries and Gulf states, either on forged documents or overstayed there.

The actual figure of deported Pakistanis is thought to be much higher than what official statistics show, because a large number of them are released by the immigration authorities without following legal procedure, well-placed sources in Islamabad told this correspondent on Friday.

Despite the fact that the immigration cell of the Federal Investigation Agency interrogated these illegal immigrants after their deportation to Pakistan in the past two years, the cases of only 1,667 persons were sent to the FIA passport circle for inquires or registration of cases, the sources said.

In the year 2004, a total of 54,469 Pakistanis were deported from different countries on charges of travelling either on fake documents or staying there after the expiry of their visas. In the year 2003, a total of 47,931 persons were deported to the country.

The figures include those deported through international airports of the country and the Pakistan-Iran border at Taftan. The Pakistanis deported in the last four years from Muscat by the Oman immigration authorities to Karachi through motorboats are not included in the FIA list of deported persons.

According to these sources, more than 35,000 illegal Pakistani immigrants, mostly labourers, were deported to Karachi. These people travelled to Oman through motorboats after paying to human smugglers whose network is spread all over the country.

According to the official figures available with Dawn, 185 persons were deported to Lahore airport in 2003. This number increased to 506 the next year. However, the immigration authorities handed over only 57 and 148 persons, respectively, to the passport circle for interrogation.

The deported persons who landed at Karachi airport in 2003 were 34,518 and 32,480 in 2004. But only 524 and 345 deported persons were sent to the passport circle for initiating inquires against them.

The number of illegal Pakistani immigrants deported from various countries to Islamabad in 2003 was 907. However, the immigration authorities sent cases of only 79 persons to the FIA passport circle. The next year, the figure of deported persons jumped to 2,785, but again the immigration cell sent only 345 cases for investigation to the passport circle.

In the year 2003, 46 Pakistanis were deported to Peshawar, while in the following year the number rose to 66. The immigration authorities sent cases of all of the deported persons to the passport circle for inquiry or registration of cases against them.

The immigration authorities at Quetta took into custody 6,257 deported persons in the year 2003, while the next year, the authorities received 8,329 deported persons. However, the immigration cell did not send even a single case for investigation to the passport circle.

This figure also included illegal immigrants deported from Iran and Muscat through the Taftan border.

No person was deported to Faisalabad in 2003, while the next year saw two illegal migrants being sent there. But these illegal migrants were set free at the airport and no inquiry was initiated against them.

In 2003, no person was deported to Multan. But in 2004, seven persons were deported and their cases sent to the passport circle for investigation.

The immigration authorities took into custody 6,018 deported persons at Ghass Bandar on the Karachi port in 2003, whereas the figure of deported persons rose to 10,294 the next year.

But contrast, the immigration authorities sent only 21 cases to the passport circle in 2003 and 29 in 2004.

However, no person was deported either through the Wahga border or through the Wahga Railway Station over the last two years.