August 29, 2004

Fake recruiting agents have been fooling around with uneducated job-seekers for long now. It’s time they’re dealt with sternly

HERE is a heart-rending story. A recruiting agent in Islamabad selected Ali to do a labourer’s job in Saudi Arabia. He was promised a monthly salary of 800 Saudi riyals, whereas accommodation, meals and medical facilities were to be provided by his employer. Only when he reached the Karachi airport was he asked to sign an employment contract that mentioned his salary as 550 Saudi riyals and that too without any residence or medical facilities. Having already paid Rs67,000 in cash to the recruiting agent as first instalment and having spent a lot more on travel arrangements, he had no other option but to accept lower job terms. When he arrived in Saudi Arabia, he was instead deployed to work as a janitor to clean toilets along with other 79 persons from Pakistan. All, who were promised employment as butchers and labourers, protested and refused to do such menial work. Earlier, their passports were taken on arrival to get them registered with the police and were never returned. They were severely beaten for not accepting the job and sent to prison in the host country. Finally, after facing great hardships they were sent back to Pakistan, without any compensation.

Ahmad was one of the three job seekers who paid Rs100,000 each to a travel agent of Mandi Bahauddin who promised them that they would be employed abroad. Even after a lapse of more than a year and great pursuance, none of them were provided with the promised job. Disappointed and disgruntled Ahmed, accompanied by the other two colleagues, demanded that the agent should refund the amount. Not accepting their demand, the agitated travel agent resorted to firing, killing Ahmad and injuring the other two job seekers.

There are numerous true stories of similar nature. Every now and then job seekers like Ali and Ahmad fall prey to the wiles and guiles of the unscrupulous, and most of the time, fake recruiting and travel agents. Many such agents, individuals, groups or companies, authorized or otherwise, are involved in nefarious illegal, immoral and unethical activities that include human trafficking. Many a time these agents are unable to provide the promised jobs abroad, whereas others arrange their travel on forged and bogus documents. Again, instances of arranging sub-standard jobs by the recruiting agencies are common. A large number of job seekers, from illiterate labourers to qualified professionals, lose almost a fortune every year in order to get a job — a dream that never comes true. In addition to that, they face mental and physical abuse not only at the hands of agents, but also by other fellow countrymen working with the police, immigration and other government agencies. Above all, it is humiliating to our national pride. It is sad, however factually, that the so-called recruiting agents are doing all this in connivance with various law-enforcing agencies and go scot-free, whereas the victims are often, if not always, treated as violators of the law.

A study of the network of recruiting agents, officially known as overseas employment promoters (OEP) in the private sector may provide a better insight into this important sector. According to a recent survey, more than 2,000 individuals, groups and companies have licenses in accordance with the provisions of the Emigration Ordinance 1979. Out of these, currently only 868 OEPs hold valid licenses, operating under the jurisdiction of Protector of Emigrants at Islamabad and the provincial capitals. The report reveals some interesting facts. Generally, overseas employment promoters do not specialize either in a specific job market or target any particular category of workers or professionals. They are engaged in selecting and recruiting national workers for jobs in the Arab countries, on an emergency basis, with only a few having representative offices in the host countries. Many travel agents also operate as recruiting agents, besides a few Pakistani construction contractors working in the Middle East who have obtained licenses as recruiting agents.

These enterprises are not only operating in major cities like Karachi and Lahore, but a large number are also functioning in small towns and far-flung areas. The potential of business in these cities is reflected in the facts that as many as 36 licensed agents are located in Sialkot, 23 in Multan and 18 in Dera Ghazi Khan. In Punjab, the agents operate in industrial cities like Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat and Wazirabad, and in agricultural areas like Okara, Sahiwal, Khanpur, Bahawalpur, Lodhran, Khushab, Sargodha, Chakwal, Mandi Bahauddin and Rahimyar Khan. Similarly, there are various agents operating in Mardan, Abbottabad, Kohat, Swat, Timargarah (District Dir) and the Malakand Agency in the NWFP. In Sindh, interestingly, the agents are concentrated only in Karachi, and do not operate in any other city of the province, though many have opened branch offices in Islamabad in the recent past. Currently, there is only one agent with a valid license operating in Quetta.

Most recruiting agencies are small enterprises, not properly organized and lack computerization and in-house trade testing facilities for technical candidates. Almost all these enterprises, however, have arrangements for travel, passport and visa requirements. These enterprises are not managed by professionals, and are, therefore, unable to meet the changing dynamics of emigration. Their operations vary from a small to medium scale, that is, providing overseas jobs to tens, hundreds and thousands, depending on the size of the company and its period of establishment. Though large in number, these enterprises could not develop a corporate culture even after a lapse of three decades, a fact attributed to a lack of capital and human resources.

For many an agent, personal gains are superior to national interest. These enterprises may have attractive offers, but are not always offering services that include charging fees, arranging travel documents, suitability for the requisite job and other practices. Viewed in this perspective, recruiting agents and subagents do not enjoy a good reputation or credibility. It appears that corruption and malpractices are common in the profession. Agents over-charge the candidates, and the emigrants are often underpaid when they are hired abroad.

There are cases of providing substandard manpower and contract substitution. The magnitude of irregularities in this sector could be gauged by the fact that during the last two years, the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment/Protector of Emigrants (BE&OE) has cancelled licenses of as many as 17 recruiting agents on account of malpractices. There are cases of violation of the Emigration Ordinance, 1979 involving 3,500 persons, which are at present pending with the FIA for action. It is reported that in a few cases, the agent whose name was struck from the license register somehow continued his business as usual. As he has the necessary contacts in Pakistan as well as abroad, he manoeuvres sending manpower even without a valid license. Alternatively, he secures license afresh under a different name, as the procedure for granting a license is simple.

Travel agents are also involved in illegal trafficking of persons. In September 2003, the Federal Investigating Agency (FIA) arrested as many as 10 travel agents from Mandi Bahauddin alone. Cases were registered by the FIA against another 10 agents in the region who used to send persons abroad through illegal documents. During the last year alone, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) imposed penalties of Rs70 million on those travel agents who were involved in human trafficking, and also cancelled licenses of many. Some of the travel agents are known to be operating illegally as recruiting agents too, without registering the enterprise and without obtaining any license from the Protector of Emigrants, as required under the law.

During the last three decades or so, almost three million Pakistanis were provided overseas jobs by the licensed recruiting agents in the private sector, as per official record. The figure includes a majority of Pakistani workers who moved mainly to the Middle East, through their network of friends and relatives, whereas others arranged jobs through agents not having licenses. The sources estimate that so far, illegal agents have sent almost the same count of emigrants on fake travel documents, for which no record exists. A report claims that human trafficking, almost an organized crime, is a twenty billion rupee annual trade in Pakistan.

Despite the government’s checks on illegal emigration, which remain half-hearted, the so-called recruiting agents continue their nefarious practices, exploiting the job-seekers. The situation has rather grown to larger proportions in recent years; agents having adopted modern fraudulent methods and techniques. The enormity of the issue is illustrated in the fact that more than 9,000 Pakistanis are at present imprisoned in various countries on charges of violation of immigration laws, illegal border crossing and tempering of travel documents. Time and again the government also issues warnings to the public against fake agents, but the same are too late and do not yield positive results. The temptations are too high, as about 98 per cent of the adult population want to go overseas to earn a better living.

There seems to be no hope or any let-up in the situation, and it shall not be as long as the ever-increasing unemployment continues to grow in the country, coupled with the present extremely low poverty and literacy rates. There is thus an urgent need to bring about control in the business of overseas employment to break the network of fake recruiting and travel agents. The Emigration Policy Ordinance and the emigration rules of 1979, duly amended from time to time, adequately provide for the fair and proper administration and regulation of emigration as well as safeguards for job-seekers.

Similarly, the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance 2002 has necessary legislative measures to curb and control human trafficking. The irony is that these laws and rules, like any other law and rule in the country, are not effectively enforced. The government must show its will to address the problem and to take measures to reconstruct operational and institutional infrastructure on modern lines and to strictly enforce specific laws. An effective mechanism should be evolved to differentiate between the legal and illegal emigration, for which awareness of the masses must be increased.

It may also be necessary to review the existing emigration rules. For example, the procedure to operate as a recruiting agent should be made stringent and only the enterprises registered under the Companies Ordinance 1984 be considered for grant or renewal of license. This would entail comprehensive documentation of the enterprise as per rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). Indeed, laxity breeds corruption, besides non-realization of government revenues in this case. Currently, only one per cent of the 868 licensed agents are registered under company laws. In contrast, 78 per cent agents in Nepal, 39 per cent in Sri Lanka and 25 per cent in Bangladesh are incorporated as limited companies under respective company laws. Also, performance parameters of these agents are to be defined with benchmarks and their periodic performance audit should be conducted.

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