GUJRAT, March 12: Oman has signed a memorandum with Pakistan to boost cooperation in fighting organised crime and human trafficking.

It repatriated 672 illegal immigrants last Wednesday.

The memorandum was signed earlier this month during the visit of a Federal Investigation Agency team to Oman.

The one-week visit was undertaken at the request of the Oman government.

Sources in the interior ministry and the FIA said that Oman had expressed concern over illegal entry of more than 12,000 Pakistani immigrants into the country through sea routes every year.

The agents reportedly ask intending illegal immigrants to pay Rs30,000 to Rs40,000 for sending them to Oman. The human traffickers usually used Mand Balo as the staging area from where they pushed the illegal immigrants into Iran from where they used ferries and launches from Bandar Abbas or Port Jasic (closer to the Omani coastline) to reach Oman. The Oman government has deported over 60,000 illegal Pakistani immigrants during the past four years.

More than 10,000 Pakistanis are languishing in Oman prisons. The sources said that Oman had requested Pakistan last year to take strict measures to control human trafficking.

The FIA officials also visited the Oman jail where they interviewed a number of Pakistanis to seek information about their agents. The delegation held negotiations with officials of the Omani coast guard, police and immigration to secure the release of illegal immigrants.

Omani officials had called for concerted inter-state cooperation to combat illegal immigration and human trafficking.

The memorandum was aimed at strengthening border controls, boost cooperation between respective immigration and police forces and encourage information sharing. Details of each initiative would be worked out at a later meeting which is to be held in Islamabad, the memorandum said.

Greece had signed an agreement with Iran, Pakistan and Turkey on Dec 11, 2005, to combat human smuggling.