ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: The government on Monday decided to seek Interpol help for extradition of high-profile Pakistani human smugglers hiding in foreign countries.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao. The meeting was convened by the minister to review the performance of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and steps to control human smuggling and trafficking from Pakistan.
“We want extradition of 10 to 15 high-profile human smugglers from the United Kingdom, Greece, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Iran,” FIA’s Deputy Director General Tariq Khosa told Dawn after the meeting.
Mr Khosa said as a first step, red notices would be served to human smugglers through Interpol.
Those providing credible information to the government about human smugglers would be rewarded, he said, adding that the officials to be engaged in operations against these smugglers would also get cash rewards.
He said it was for the first time that Interpol help was being sought for extradition of human smugglers. Earlier, the Interpol was only approached for the arrest of proclaimed offenders and the accused in murder cases, he added.
The FIA official said that the meeting was informed of a number of human smugglers of Pakistani origin living in the Gulf and European countries and operating their illegal networks with the help of their local associates.
The interior ministry and the FIA will also brief Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday on the steps being taken to curb human smuggling from Pakistan.
Speaking on the occasion, the interior minister said Pakistan had prepared a national action plan to control the cases of human smuggling.
He expressed satisfaction over the decision of the US to exclude Pakistan from the human smuggling watch list, saying the US Congress had also noted positive progress in anti-human smuggling efforts in Pakistan.
The meeting was also attended by Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah, Additional Secretary Chaudhry Qamar Zaman and FIA Director General Tariq Pervez.
The minister said an inter-agency task force, working under the interior secretary, reviewed human smuggling cases on a fortnightly basis.
He said further steps were being taken to make the FIA more effective.
He said the government would provide maximum resources to improve the working of the FIA, and new officials would be inducted in the agency purely on merit.
In a recent statement, the interior secretary had pointed out that Pakistan-Iran border was being used for sending illegal immigrants to the Middle East and European countries. He had claimed that 99 per cent of the illegal exercise was being carried out through land routes from Pakistan.