March 28, 2007	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 8, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, March 27: The government has ordered an investigation against a racket of travel agents involved in exporting unemployed persons under the garb of Mehrams of women going to Saudi Arabia for Haj and Umra.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been directed to submit a comprehensive report within 15 days to proceed further, a senior FIA official told Dawn. When contacted, the director general of FIA said the case had been taken up.

After reaching Saudi Arabia, the unemployed persons accompanying the female pilgrims disappear, leaving the women to suffer at the hands of Saudi authorities.

This gives us a bad image and people the world over tend to regard Pakistan as a country specialising in exporting criminals.

Sources said a travel agency based in Depalpur tehsil of the Okara district arranged groups for Haj and Umra.

The owner of the agency, identified as Rafiq Anjum, worked as a clerk in the town committee before starting the business. Soon after, he established over one dozen branches of the agency in different cities.

The sources said the travel agency sent jobless young people with the intending women pilgrims to Saudi Arabia as their Mehrams after getting money from them.

The government ordered the probe after a recent case of human trafficking to Saudi Arabia came to light. Two women identified as Nooran Bibi, wife of Noor Elahi, and Razzan Bibi, wife of Falak Sher, travelled to Saudi Arabia along with a young man who was identified as their Mehram.

On reaching there, the man disappeared leaving both the women alone. Their tour was arranged by the same travel agency in June 2006. However, the Pakistan mission in Saudi Arabia arranged their return journey to Pakistan.

Perpetuation of such illegal practices could strain the congenial relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia with reference to Haj and Umra whereby a sizable facilitation is extended by the latter in requisite arrangements, an inter- departmental communication said.

Pakistan mission in Cairo had unearthed a racket engaged in human trafficking and had sent a report to the ministry of foreign affairs in 2005 citing most of the cases of smuggling of illegal Pakistani immigrants, mostly originating from Gujrat, to Europe through Egypt.