The Untold Stories Of Human Smuggling Victims In Iraq And Pakistan
Human smuggling or migrant smuggling is not a new phenomenon, however, its new extended dimensions in modern era have become more dangerous especially for the victims who are not only victims to human smuggling but of other crimes too depending on unexpected and unforeseen aggravating circumstances such as exposure of unsafe travel, fraud by agent regarding travelling and other plans, physical and sexual violence and much more. Human smuggling is defined as “Smuggling of migrants’ shall mean the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a national or a permanent resident in Article 3, paragraph (a) of Annex 3 of the “Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.” The UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons in 2010 was laid down in 64th Sessions of the UN General Assembly for eradication of the crime through well-coordinated cross-border efforts.
This write-up unearths harsh violations of human rights being faced by more than thirty citizens of Pakistan in prisons of Iraq at the hands of an international human smuggling gang with the nexus of the Police of Iraq, jail administration and prosecution department of Iraq just for ransom. More than thirty entrapped Pakistanis have been persecuted and detained in different jails of Iraq at the hands of an international human smuggling gang that is also being operated in Pakistan, Iran and Iraq as revealed by aggrieved families of 30+ victims.
Families of these victims claim that an international human smuggling gang exists that consists of males and females who belong to Pakistan, Iran and Iraq. All members of the alleged gang work in connivance with each other for their ulterior motives. Members of the alleged gang who are citizens of Pakistan also have deep connections with unregistered travelling agents of Pakistan who are given the tasks to book and transport citizens from Pakistan after receiving money to send them illegally to Iraq through the route of Iran by the deception of lucrative job offers by charging 1 to 2 million PKR for human smuggling, illegal travelling and jobs in Iraq. Later on, some of the victims travelled to Iran on the visas of Zayarat who were further sent to Iraq from Iran illegally through human smuggling.
According to aggrieved families of human smuggling victims, those victims were given jobs for some weeks so they stayed and worked illegally on the whims and wishes of the gang or agent after reaching their ultimate destination in Iraq. After few weeks, members of the alleged international human smuggling gang who have nationality of Pakistan raided with officials of Iraq’s police on the working places of the victims and shifted them to the gang’s private torture cell after their arrest. Victims were beaten after stripping their clothes and were tortured during online video calls with families of victims. Members of international human smuggling gang as well persons in police uniform urinated and put shit/filth in mouths of victims. Sadly, body parts, especially sexual parts of those victims were given electric shocks, and maximum pain was given during video calls with family members of victims for extortion from parents in order to get their victims released. Some alleged videos show that penis of a victim was cut by the alleged gang when his family refused to pay ransom. The alleged gang demanded for 5000$ to 10000$ from families of the victims for their release from torture cells. Even, victims were forced through severe physical and mental torture to sign on confessional statements in case of non-payment of ransom in torture cells and police stations to ensure conviction as revenge of non-payment.
As per sources and interviews of the families of victims, those victims, whose families did not pay ransom to the alleged human smuggling gang, were booked in false and frivolous criminal cases of visa fraud, illegal stay, working without work permit, scuffling, theft, kidnapping based on concocted stories to ensure the conviction without opportunity of fair trial which is sheer violation of the rights which have been protected for all and sundry under Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other legal instruments of United Nations for dispensation of justice.
By considering the said facts and circumstances regarding grave violations of human rights, the government of Pakistan must conduct inquiry on the allegations leveled on the alleged international human smuggling gang, Police of Iraq and jail administration regarding entrapment, torture and implication of Pakistan’s youngsters in fake and frivolous cases, conviction through managed prosecution. It should also take up the matter at governmental level with the Governments of Iraq and Iran to stop human smuggling and take stern measures against the alleged international human smuggling gang by forming Joint Investigation Team by adding members of investigative agencies of Iraq and Iran under article 19 of United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime to investigate false and frivolous prosecution, especially confessional statements and misuse of lingual barrier in pre-trial and post trial proceedings. These victims must be repatriated.