January 24, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 14, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Jan 23: The government on Wednesday took serious notice of trafficking of young girls to the Gulf States by organized groups of promoters under the guise of cultural delegations.

In a meeting, Federal Minister for Human Rights, Ansar Burney, said that these promoters hired young girls from all over the country to take them to Dubai in deceit for work in dramas, music shows and certain other household works. But these girls were sold for sexual purposes.

These groups of promoters were operating from almost all over the country but from Karachi and Lahore in particular, the Minister said adding that the victims of their ‘evil’ business were young girls.

According to Ansar Burney, many families lose girls but remained silent for fear of disgrace or life of their daughter.

Talking to Dawn on Wednesday, Mr Burney said, “We suspect that people involved in this heinous business have registered companies with fancy offices in big cities. They offer prosperous future to families of girls as young as 14-15 years and even as young as 10-11-year-old.”

The minister said that it was difficult to say how many young girls so far had been smuggled into Gulf States since the practice was going on for a very long time.

“However, we were able to bring back the dead body of a 17- year-old girl who was being kept in a make-shift jail in an apartment. She had been missing for the last three years. She died of suffocation after the apartment caught fire,” the minister said.

Mr Burney said that they were also working on another case of a young girl from Karachi gone missing in Dubai. She was taken to Dubai as a member of cultural delegation over seven months ago but had not returned.

Mr Burney said he in this regard met Minister of Culture, Skindar Hayat, and urged him to keep strict check on promoters. He said that the groups with good track record should be given licences of cultural delegations and that promoters be registered and prior approval of delegation member obtained from the culture ministry.

The minister said he also had asked Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Culture, and the FIA to submit detailed report regarding the ‘heinous’ crime.