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Trav(ail)ogue of illegal Pakistani immigrants
GUJRAT: The deportation of a number of illegal Pakistani immigrants and ‘stringent’ measures to prevent further flow of human flood through the sea coast bordering Turkey and Greece have brought many tales to the fore.
As most ‘emigrants’ belong to Gujrat and surrounding areas, this correspondent got an opportunity to talk to a few of those who have recently been sent back home.
Deported from Turkey in recent weeks, a lad revealed that a good number of human traffickers were mainly operating from Istanbul city of Turkey, with their “sub-agents” who would only book the clients and collect the settled amount (around Rs300,000 from each person) in Gujrat, Phalia, Mandi Bahauddin and Gujranwala.
The practice of illegally crossing the borders of Iran, Turkey and then Greece to enter Europe has been going on for decades in Gujranwala region and the authorities in Pakistan have failed to curb it. It witnessed a sharp increase during the last four to six months after Germany and other European countries had announced asylum for the Syrian, Iraqi and Afghani refugees and, according to an estimate, at least 35,000 Pakistani nationals have so far crossed into Europe in the disguise of Syrian refugees.
Istanbul is ‘hub’ of many Pakistani traffickers
He said even the refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan were being operated by the human traffickers belonging to Gujranwala region and “the so-called crackdown on human traffickers has not curtailed the business.”
“I had been offered a free ride up to Europe by the agent who had earlier booked my case for Greece, if I could arrange at least three more clients,” he said and added that his father had handed over the settled amount to a police official in Mandi Bahauddin district who used to book the clients on behalf of his brother, a human trafficker settled in Turkey and Spain.
After the western countries’ focus towards the immigrants had been shifted to civil war-torn countries like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan nationals due to a sharp influx of refugees from these countries, he said, the restrictions at Turkey-Greece border had compelled the Pakistani nationals travelling towards Europe to change their national identity.
Sharing his story, Shan Ahmed, who belongs to Gujrat city and had been deported from Turkey around two weeks ago, said he and around 100 other illegal Pakistanis mainly belonging to Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot and Gujranwala had introduced themselves as the nationals of Myanmar and Kashmir when they were caught by the authorities in the waters of Greece after crossing the limits of Turkish side of the ocean.
“One of the detained men who belonged to Sialkot district had revealed to the Turkish authorities that all of them belonged to Pakistan since he knew the Turkish language very well for being settled as a factory worker near Istanbul for more than two years. Had he not revealed the nationality of the group of detained people, the authorities would have set us free after brief interrogation, thus, giving another chance to those who wanted to try their luck once more through crossing the border,” said Ahmed.
He said they were all deported by the authorities after being kept in confinement for around a month at a camp, where the authorities told them that Pakistan was not among the war-zone countries and did have a better economic condition compared to Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, that’s why Pakistanis were being deported.
Asked why the immigrants from the countries like India and Iran, which also have better economic conditions and are not among the troubled zones, are not being deported, he said the Turkish authorities responded that “Pakistanis come in large numbers and groups, whereas the people from the other Southeast Asian countries come in small groups.”
Since the Greece economy has deteriorated in recent years, there has been a decline in the rates for clients as previously the traffickers used to charge around Rs600,000, which is now half of it. This means opportunities for the locals to try their luck with a ‘minimum investment’ and chances of crossing into Europe and then settle with the help of their close kin who are already settled in various European countries.
Most Pakistanis, who had recently crossed into Greece and Germany, got settled in Italy and Spain with the assistance of their kin settled there.
Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2015
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Comments (43) Closed
They can do farm labor in Sicily and Southern Italy for six Euros per day. Those are the only available jobs at present for migrants not reaching Northern Europe. Most of that labor is African.
What a shame for Pakistan and its people. Pakistan is a country with huge potential and young work force but wealth and opportunities are only for a few corrupt people and the rest of the population is thinking about leaving the country. At the same time election system has been corrupted as well so their is no chance these corrupt people can be removed from power. I see no future for young Pakistanis unless somehow this corrupt system and few individuals running it are removed from power.
No national pride but a useless existence for these people.
illegal Pakistanis mainly belonging to Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot and Gujranwala had introduced themselves as the nationals of Myanmar and Kashmir when they were caught by the authorities in the waters of Greece....Lie is good but when it hurts, it does badly!!
These immigrations is a challenge to our nationhood.
I wish we have people in the government who know how to create jobs in Pakistan so they don't to leave their loved ones behind for the sake of work.
the goverment of pakistan in 1970 onwards should have had a policy of sending legal good workers to gulf states particularly uae, oman etc , looking at the situation the goverment has failed miserably , the people who are in gulf states have gone themselves, recently i attended big 5 construction exhibition there were 30 indian stalls , i did not see any one from pakistan , it is not the fault of the people but the goverment
@almas mohommad - india But Indian Government did not send these immigrants. It is the people in India who went to gulf countries on their own. Govt. had nothing to do this. I would assume the same happened in Pakistan.
Where is our minister of interior? He was blaming the European countries. Why can't we prevent our citizens from leaving our shores? They are bringing bad name to our country.
@Persona Non Grata: Sir, creating jobs may never and need not be done by government. If only they do one thing, that being to not eat up the public money to fill their own bank balances, the rest would follow seemlessly. The private sector alone has potential enough to consume all manpower. The only question now is of POLITICAL WILL!
If government of Pakistan can do one favour ,provide them good education,world will accept them with open arms.look around how china and india changed there fortunes.Because of massive power of education Indians and Chinese are accepted everywhere,
This dilemma speaks volume about the corruption taking place at Pakistani airports and ports!
Major implementation of rules and regulations, and posting of corrupt free professional officials and staff, is the need of the hour for Pakistani airports and ports!
The immortal lifafa culture prevails!
The mindset:" you do corruption and run away with your looted booty" needs to be changed! Period!
@Alla Bux - How can we stop anyone going out of country? It happens all over the world.
Continuous failure of successive Govts. and us as a nation since independence. Feudal mindset and policies. Its either illegal immigration or illegal activities for these people. They are also the perfect fodder for terrorism recruits.
Shame on govt of Pakistan for not proving its people opportunities at home and these poor people have to resort to all this. My sympathies are with these people,who would not want a better life,no matter how they reach it.
Pakistan has one of the world's best human resources in the world. Pakistanis have ability and efficiency to perform in any condition. Just need investment and guidance.
@almas mohommad - india
The only difference is they are legal immigrants.. no country has a problem with that. Why Pakistanis are choosing so expensive and risky illegal ways?
Tip to my friends in Pakistan: spend the same money on your education and then apply for visa legally, no country can deport you, you will get very good job, better life and no humiliation for Pakistan..
@Farid Ullah they should be motivated,given vocational training,small loans to start businesses or told to study.what have others like them in Europe achieved other than a brand new mobile phone or designers clothing
@Komal S
Govt is indirectly involved by providing necessary education. From civil to electronic to IT to chemicals to whatever engineering. The scores of management and technical institutes in India is a stepping stone to success for its people. People once educated are able to take informed decisions for their self progress. It has helped in nation building as well.
Why are so many wanting to escape from Land of the Pure ? It is for citizens to make the changes they want to see in their country, opportunity which is available only in an Democracy.
@Feroz Refugees get free food, free housing, free clothes, free health care and education programs and monthly cash payment for entertainment or they can send it home. What else do they need. Can they get all this here ?.
@Vamshi I think you're talking about tourism whereas the article is about illegal immigration. You're really confused.
@Asif And who do you think is paying for all the free stuff? The people of the country who have been working hard and honestly paying their taxes. Dont you find it shameful that those people who have worked hard and paid taxes are getting less benefits from their government so you can get things for free without doing any work? Do you think what you are doing is right? Will the people of the country where you go and get things for free, respect you?
Where is General Shareef? Why he is not doing anything about this problem?
Day by day, Pakistan is becoming mare corrupt, more violent and more populous. Corruption is the biggest reason for value-destruction in a country. Ordinary people are finding it more and more difficult to make a living here. The honest are damned here. So what does one do?
@Alla Bux The dream of every young man in our countries is to settle in any foreign country at any cost but the Minister or Govt can do/
Our population is exploding and resources and jo s cannot keep up. Need to immediately put in place a one child policy like China.
It is a payback time. These colonial masters have exploited world to become rich and prosperous by grabbing land and money of the world. England, France, Spain, Australia, Italy type countries should be lands for all their colonies. UN should force them for open border for their former colonies.
These guys can write a travel log or be part of the Globe Trekker series and share their experience.
It is a dirty shame that we have a lot of our people going overseas because they find nothing to do here...it is not the fault of business or private sector when they make it very hard to do business in Pakistan...if the environment was good for business then private sector would create jobs...the other despicable act of our system that areas mentioned have very bad schools hence none of these kids can go pass ten grade and get any jobs in pakistan being from the area i see the situation is hopeless. there is no reason why Lahore islamabad karachi peshawar can't be hub of it ...but we have no power no gas so industry can function with what...energy
As an worker on this field, there are all sorts of pakistanis from all states numbers around 100,000 in EU in this year alone. Rest are from banlgadesh, lebanon, eriteria and somalis to chad etc
Once the core issue of Kashmir is solved, everything will get solved. This is false Indian propaganda, there are many Indian illegal immigrants too. Pakistanis need to try hard to get in Europe.
It is quiet embarrassing to see that people here are commenting without knowing the ground realities. Nearly every family in Gujrat has some relatives in western countries and they all got settled in Europe in similar way. Only difference at that time was that it was not considered illegal and these countries used to consider every new comer as a potential human resource. For these people, it is still OK to enter in europe using the old means and they get full support from their families (esp from those who are already in europe).
Only thing we need to do is to educate these people that time has changed and western countries no longer allow people to enter without a valid VISA.
There is no shortage of jobs in Pakistan. But Pakistani want it in the plate. These people are "Short cutters", who wants to achieve everything quickly and without any efforts. Once in their destination, they do low level jobs, get low wages and also abused by their employers (mostly Pakistani) because they are illegal and are NOT allowed to work. If you tell them that their life would be better in Pakistan then they think that one doesn't want them in west and are jealous of their "future" success. The moral of the story is their life is miserable and full of hardships. So, please stay in Pakistan and try to build your life there. Life is about struggle to achieve something NOT using short cuts, which is not there (short cuts) in the first place.
undocumented, not illegal. a human can not be illegal.
These young akistanis can stay in Pakistan and help implement things like Islamic banking and sharia law. They have no chance of acheiving that goal in Europe.
First of all it's a matter of shame for NS Govt how such a large number of illegal travellers get away so easily,we could understand that elite & corruption Mafia may have slipped using their connections and money, but how could people of Mundi Bhauddin,Sialkot,and Gujrat,Gujrawala,could leave Pakistan so easily,the interior ministry should probe this,their timing of departing,and who grant them departure so smoothly.It would be much better if priority is given to such projects to creat jobs for such persons who can surely work in home country,the main issue is money required for launching big projects,the money you can get easily by announcing amnesty to all corruption money from ex-leaders and politicians (after deducting some percentage of tax) to invest in home country,rather than huge amounts lying in Dubai banks,or in shape of Dubai properties. There are precedents in Pakistan when amnesties were granted for declaring huge amounts to regularize the money ,after payment of taxes.
Last month I was in Crete (Chania port) while on a cruise. I met a number of Pakistanis speaking Punjabi. A couple I talked to have bene there for four years and plan to go back next year as they have not received their official papers. The people I met were selling knick knacks to tourists outside a small shopping plaza where the tourists arrive from the port. Given the high cost of living in Greece I could not fathom how they eke out a living by selling a few trinkets. And the cruise ships do not arrive each day. These young people were very nice and open with me. According to them, Bangladeshis are the largest group of illegals in most of Europe.
@ahmad .. You don't need a lot of education to be successful in life, I came to the US with student visa, overstayed but found a Spanish girl and married, started a corner store and now I am a successful business man with a family
@Ahmad too good a statement
the rulers and the legislators are so ruthless and selfish that they dont even see the adventures and hurdles a Pakistani immigrant goes through to settle in a foreign country. Once he settles down he sends foreign exchange to Pakistan government, but the government does not give him a right to vote. When this immigrant returns home he is cheated not only by relatives but also by a common man in the street if they get a chance
@Malatesh buddy what is the use spending money on education when you cannot get a job after you become a doctor, engineer and so on
@Aftab Ali Khan In Pakistan there is very little FDI and hence there is very few jobs being created. Pakistan spends most money on defence and hence very little on health and education.