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| November 3, 2005 | Thursday | Ramzan 29, 1426 |
Activists call to prevent kidnapping of victims
ISLAMABAD, Nov 2: The International Organization of Migration (IOM) on Wednesday warned the interior ministry that women and children who survived the Oct 8 earthquake were vulnerable to kidnapping.
IOM’s representative in Pakistan Ms Monika told officials of the interior ministry at a meeting that in many high mortality areas like Balakot, most of the male members of the families had died in the earthquake and their women and children had become vulnerable to human trafficking.
Another representative of the IOM said that in Muzaffarabad many incidents of selling of children had been reported. “Earlier, people in Muzaffarabad provided shelter to children of their deceased relatives and claimed that they would look after them. But now these children are being considered as a burden and thus are being sold,” she added.
The meeting was presided over by Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah and was attended by the FIA director-general, Capital Development Authority chairman, National Crisis Management Cell director-general, Islamabad IGP, additional secretary of the interior ministry, Health director-general, representatives of the IOM, National Database Registration Authority (Nadra), Unicef, Overseas Pakistanis Foundation and media persons.
The meeting was informed that the government has decided to rehabilitate all orphans and unaccompanied people of the quake-affected areas to a secure shelter home to be set up in Ghazi Barotha to control kidnapping and human trafficking.
The interior ministry secretary said that earlier it was decided that orphans’ shelter home would be established near the Lake View Motel at Park Road in Islamabad but in view of security aspects the venue had been changed.
Mr Shah said 40 unaccompanied children, 19 women and two male teenagers had reached the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and they had been provided shelter at different camps.
He said the governments of the NWFP and Azad Jammu and Kashmir had been directed to make foolproof arrangements to foil any attempt of kidnapping and human trafficking.
The secretary directed the FIA to set up anti-trafficking units in areas that had become vulnerable to the incidents of kidnapping.
He ordered Nadra to start registration process of orphans and unaccompanied people coming to relief camps so that they could be shifted to safe places.
“Nadra should also consult family tree (data of families available with the Nadra) so that no one other then the family members could lay claim on orphans and unaccompanied people,” the secretary said.
Mr Shah said amputees could also become target of human traffickers and therefore they should be shifted to safe places. “About 605 amputees have been admitted to hospitals in Islamabad,” he said.
The meeting was informed that the government had banned the adoption of orphans and unaccompanied children for the next six months. “If it is allowed now, it would become difficult for us to differentiate genuine seekers and human traffickers,” the secretary said.
He said that 700 police personnel from Punjab, 130 from Islamabad and 700 Rangers had been sent to AJK to assist local law-enforcement agencies to check criminal activities including kidnapping of women and children.
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