ISLAMABAD: The poor law and order situation in Quetta is possibly the main reason that over 3,000 of its residents were found involved in cases of human trafficking over the past five years.

In most of the cases, these people helped illegal migrants cross the relatively unguarded border with Iran.

According to a report compiled by the interior ministry, Quetta is ahead of other provincial capitals and Islamabad in the number of people involved in human trafficking during the five-year period.

From 2004 to 2008, law-enforcement personnel arrested 3,087 people from Quetta and suburbs for helping people to cross the border without legal documents.

Karachi came next with 587 human smugglers, Lahore 189, Islamabad 197 and Peshawar 29.

The figures show an annual increase in the number of people in 2004, 113 people were detained in the country on charge of human trafficking and the number rose to 335 in 2005, 663 in ’06, 1,172 in ’07 and 1,803 in ’08.

The report also shows that a staggering number of 134,926 Pakistanis were repatriated from various countries during the period.

In 2005, the report says, the number of people deported to Pakistan was 33,993, in ’06, it was 22,382, in ’07, 24,952, in ’08, 33,960 and up to Sept ’09, 19,639.

Information gleaned from interrogation of the deportees indicate that unemployment, economic backwardness, civil unrest, political uncertainty and urge for better life were common factors behind people falling victim to human smugglers.

It may be mentioned that human smugglers use the Pakistan-Iran border for sending people to Turkey and subsequently to other European countries.

They charge between Rs400,000 and Rs700,000 per person, depending on the mode of transport.The minimum rate is for immigrants prepared to travel on trawlers in groups, whereas those transported by taxis are to pay more.

Frequently heart-rending stories of people dying in trawlers from suffocation or killed by border police appear in the media.