Poverty Drives Pakistanis Away

"I was tempted to try my luck by my neighbor who has been in Muscat [Oman] for the last 15 years, and earning good," Siddique Khan, one of hundreds of illegal immigrants deported from the Sultanate of Oman, told IslamOnline.net.

The father of five used to work as an agricultural laborer in the small town of Daska, located in northern Pakistan, before he decided to embark on the risking adventure.

"I had taken this risk due to my financial condition. The money I used to earn was hardly enough for 15 days of month," he complained.

"I had to borrow loans and seek help from my friends and family members to cope with my expenses for remaining days."

Khan said his group, which included 29 other people from different areas of Pakistan, paid Rs 25,000 to RS 30,000 (400 dollars to 500 dollars) each to different agents.

As always, he never met that "agent" and only dealt with him though a middle-man.

"He told me to come to a park in nearby city of Sialkot, with money and other documents, and hand them over to a person namely Anwer, who would recognize me by my apparel," Khan recalled.

Cross-countries

Khan traveled to the southern port city Karachi via train and stayed at a hotel for two days.

"There were some 40 other people. We drove to Balochistan (southeastern province which borders Iran and Afghanistan) and entered Iran after a 19-hour journey.

"From Iran, most of us traveled towards Muscat via boat, while a few used a different route to enter Turkey."

Khan kept praying during the boat trip they would not run into the Omani coast guards.

"As soon as we reached the beach, we heard the shots in the air, and shouts asking us to surrender," he said.

"We all started running in different directions as advised by our agents. I didn't know the direction.

"I only wanted to escape and enter the city. But I could not as I was running towards the pickets of the coastguards. I was arrested easily, and so were others."

Abdul Ghafoor, another illegal immigrant, entered Iran in dampers, small trucks.

"We sat in the damper for six hours like animals," the 45-year-old cook told IOL.

"From Mand Belo, we arrived in Shabar area of Iran, from there we moved to Kunar and then to Charshak. Form Charshak, we boarded a small boat, and arrived at a beach near Muscat after three hours."

Ghafoor was lucky as he had to stay in jail only for a month.

"Though, it was only one month, I can't forget the horrible days there. The jail was worst than ours.

"We were given food in a quantity, which was enough to keep u alive only. The jail guards were so rude as they often beat us without any reason," he charged.

Ghafoora paid Rs 30,000 (500 dollars) to an agent in Karachi for illegal entry to Muscat.

But he could only see the glimpses of the Omani capital from the police van as he too was arrested by the coast guards upon his arrival at the beach.

The illegal immigrants were taken to a jail and remained behind bars until the Pakistani Embassy and Ansar Burni Welfare Trust, an organization which works for the release, welfare and repatriation of Pakistani illegal immigrants abroad, helped facilitate their deportation.

Instead of being welcome home by family members, they were arrested by immigration officials on arrival at Karachi harbor.

According to Ansar Burni, around 80,000 Pakistanis have been deported from different countries, mostly from Gulf states, in 2006.

Some 50,000 Pakistanis have been deported from Muscat alone since 2001.

Tempting  

"Illegal immigrants give their life savings and take loans to pay agents in promise of a better life and a better future," Burni told IOL .

Sarim Burni, Vice Chairman of Ansar Burni Welfare Trust, agrees that the lack of economic opportunity, poverty and temptation are the major reasons for illegal immigration.

"Illegal immigrants give their life savings and take loans to pay agents in promise of a better life and a better future," he told IOL.

"Some are poor and illiterate, while others are middle class and educated - but neither could find work at home and both have responsibilities of family," Burney said.

"Most of the illiterate immigrants are tempted by the economic conditions of those who had been smuggled into Gulf states 15-20 years back.

"They think that a better future is waiting for them there too."

FIA Deputy Director Mr Malik asserted that though illegal immigrants know the high chances of being arrested and deported they take the risk nonetheless.

"If 100 people go abroad illegally, and merely 5 of them managed to stay there and send money back homes, it temps others," he told IOL.

"They do not think about 95 people, who were arrested, jailed and then deported. They are tempted by those five persons."

Malik said illegal immigration to USA cost Rs 200,000,0 (30,000 dollars) per person, while the rates for Turkey and Greece are between 8,000 to 10,000 dollars.

He noted that illegal entry to Gulf countries only costs 400 to 600 dollars.

"Due to less charges, a majority of people opt for Muscat, Dubai and other Gulf states. Almost 99 percent of the illegal immigrants take this step for financial reasons. They cannot afford to go to the USA or Europe."

Organized Crime

The government has decided to arrest illegal immigrants deported to Pakistan on arrival to discourage future aspirants. (IOL photo)

Human smuggling is considered one of the well-organized crimes in the South Asian country.

Many bigwigs, including government officials parliamentarians, are believed to have been involved in the lucrative business.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which is responsible for checking this crime, has recently initiated an inquiry against two government legislators over involvement in human smuggling.

"Yes, I can confirm that inquiry against two parliamentarians is underway in this regard," a FIA official told IOL on the condition of anonymity.

"They are charged with helping several people illegally enter Spain and some other European countries by showing them as their family members."

In March 2005, 60 Pakistanis arrived legally in Khartoum, Sudan, in search of a better future and to work as promised in an oil company.

However, to their shock and dismay they were sold into slavery to a labor camp near Khartoum.

Surrounded by armed guards, the men spent 5 months working as slave laborers and feeding mostly on boiled rice and dirty water.

When they finally managed to contact the Pakistani Embassy they were given full support – until it was revealed that the company that arranged their travel and sold them into slavery was owned by a senior Pakistani minister.

Although the Sudanese government intervened and arranged for the deportation of the Pakistanis the inquiry against the sitting minister is still in pending, FIA sources confirmed.

They also charge that travel agents involved in human smuggling pay regular amounts to high-level officials, including the agency officials, to work with impunity.

But the FIA dismissed the charges.

"I admit that black sheep are everywhere, but we can't take action on the basis of mere assumptions," Malik told IOL.

"We have less than 2500 officers and personnel in our agency, who are deputed at 16 authorized exit and entry points.

"There is a 2500 km long border along Afghanistan and Iran, it is impossible for 2500 people to fully check the movement across the border," he insisted.

The official said one of the goals of fencing the border was to curb illegal immigration, doubting this would be enough.

"The problem will not be resolved because migration towards developed world can only be stopped through better economic opportunities in the country."

Malik pointed out that because human smugglers do not deal with illegal immigrants directly, it is very difficult to track them down.

"They deal indirectly. They hardly come in front of the aspirants of illegal migration. That is why the deportees cannot tell us about them", he asserted.

"Smugglers use small boats to carry illegal immigrants so that they cannot be traced easily. They avoid landing at known ports or beaches."

The FIA official underlined that the government had decided to arrest illegal immigrants deported to Pakistan on arrival to discourage future aspirants.

"Earlier, we used to release the deportees after interrogation, but now the government has decided to lodge formal cases against them to discourage the phenomenon."