KARACHI, Jan 8: Over 12,600 jobseekers, smuggled by the human traffickers to Muscat, were deported during last year. As many as 10,294 jobseekers were deported in 2004. The job seekers, most of them illiterate and hailing from different parts of the country, had been smuggled to Muscat after they were made to cross the Pakistan-Iran border illegally near Mand Ballu, Balochistan.
They paid different amounts to human traffickers, ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000, for entering Dubai via Oman.
Of them, 641 arrived here in January, 814 in February, 700 in March, 1,017 May, 414 in June, 1,108 in August, 1,334 in October, 2,000 in November and 1,436 in December.
The worn-out jobseekers were brought from the Gulf state by two cargo launches in pathetic conditions, both mental and physical, as they remained in prisons for several days before being deported. The job-seekers, most of them barefoot, returned with no personal belongings or documents on them, except the emergency passports issued to them by the Pakistan mission in Oman.
A human smuggling racket is flourishing in Mand Ballu as local agents and their counterparts in a neighbouring country have been operating for the last several years and some local influential people are stated to be directly involved in this business.
The deported jobseekers said that from Mand Ballu, the deportees were taken in pick-ups to reach an Iranian border town, Kunarak, after a two-day journey. After staying overnight, the jobseekers were driven for two days to another town, Jeshak.
They said later they were brought to a jetty, Minab, where they were crammed into small launches and after a 10-hour voyage, they reached a coastal area, Khasab, near Muscat.
Most of the jobseekers initially reached Lea Market, Karachi, where an organised racket of the human smugglers is stated be operating. Certain local transporters and hotels in the vicinity are also conniving with the human traffickers.
According to a jobseeker, who had acquired money on interest, he paid Rs600 to a bus operator to reach Mand Ballu where he stayed for six days. Later, he paid Rs10,000 to an agent.
“We were 25 and were made to board a pick-up which travelled in a mountainous area for a day. Then we reached near a mosque in an Iranian border town. Then we were taken in five luxury cabs to Chabahar, another Iranian town, where we stayed for five days”, he said.
The jobseekers, most of whom generated funds for their journey either by selling jewellery or by lending money on interest, said the human smugglers gave them food once in a day and they stayed in the open sky.
According to deportees, the human traffickers just abandoned them at the coastal area and they were finally apprehended by the authorities who immediately sent them to jails.
Sources said the ultimate destination of the jobseekers is Dubai. Once they reach Muscat, they make attempts to enter Dubai near Al-Ain. A strong force has been deployed there to curb the penetration of illegal immigrants into Dubai, they said.
The sources said the law-enforcement authorities often resort to heavy firing to stop illegal jobseekers from crossing the Dubai border.
The racket of human smuggling to Iran was unearthed in April, 2004 when 31 Bangladeshis were caught in a Mand Ballu-bound bus.
Sources said the human trafficking to the Gulf state was not effectively checked by the authorities as 30 to 40 jobseekers were leaving daily for Muscat via Balochistan and Iran.
They said the jobseekers belong to poor families and they risk their lives for reaching Muscat illegally.
A number of jobseekers die during the journey, some by falling from a mountain, some by snake-bites and many others due to illness, they said.
