ISLAMABAD, July 13: A law aimed at checking human smuggling and flow of illegal immigrants from Pakistan has been finalized by the ministry of law and justice and likely to be approved in the next cabinet meeting, official sources said.

The law piloted by the interior minister has been finalized and referred to the Cabinet division for a formal approval before its promulgation by the president.

The law, besides prescribing harsh punishment for all those involved in the human smuggling will consolidate existing provisions under different laws dealing with the menace of illegal immigration, trans-border movements and related crimes, a source said.

The enactment of a specific law to check illegal flow of people from Pakistan towards the western countries would also allay the growing concern in the western capitals about the rising tide of illegal immigrants, the source said.

Pakistan because of its geographical proximity to the Gulf and Middle East is being used as a conduit or launching pad by the neighbouring Afghanistan, Iran, India, Bangladesh and some other countries to smuggle illegal immigrants.

About 90 per cent of the people beheaded in Saudi Arabia on charges of heroin or drug smuggling are Afghan nationals carrying fake Pakistani passports, the source said.

The menace of human smuggling in view of the stark economic disparities between different countries of east and the west could not be checked effectively by mere enactment of more stringent laws, he said.

The government, he added, was also strengthening monitoring and patrolling of the long coastal belt and the country’s borders particularly with Afghanistan

Pakistan Law Commission in a recent meeting had taken strong note of increasing incidents of abuse and exploitation of children for use as camel jockeys or employment in injurious or hazardous occupations and recommend two special provisions in the existing laws.

The provisions suggested by the commission for trafficking of children were: “Whoever sells, buys, permits or causes to sell or buy, removes, exports, traffics in or otherwise disposes of any person under the age of 14 years, with intent that such person shall at any stage be employed, or used as camel jockey or for the purpose which is injurious or hazardous to life shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years or with fine or with both.”

The commission had also recommended three-fold increase in the amounts of fine as prescribed in section 32 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.