The immigration authorities in Pakistan launched a crackdown on its nationals deported from different countries after 220 people were sent back in the last 48 hours.
The immigration authorities arrested 12 of the deportees from the Karachi airport after they were sent back from the USA, China, UAE, Senegal, Turkiye, South Africa, Zimbabwe etc.
An official in the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said they were keeping a close watch at all airports on Pakistanis leaving for abroad and those deported.
“In recent cases of human trafficking, Pakistanis have been flown to and from some African countries, including Senegal, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, by human smugglers and their attempts to smuggle them into European countries by road and sea links through Mauritania or Morocco has put everyone on alert,” the official confided.
He said in some cases these people first went to the UAE to get connecting flights to these African countries.
Hundreds of Pakistanis die every year while trying to reach Europe by land and sea with the help of human traffickers.
Earlier this month, 44 Pakistanis drowned in the capsizing of a boat off West Africa’s Atlantic coastline, which has emerged as a primary point of departure for migrants aiming to reach Europe.
Another FIA source said the government crackdown at all airports as human smugglers were now sending victims to Senegal by air and then using land and sea routes to get them to the Canary Islands via Mauritania and Morocco.
The immigration official said there were 103 deported Pakistanis among the 220 who had been released from jails in UAE, Turkiye etc after being arrested for different crimes like expired visas, fake visas, illegal stays, robbery, theft, begging etc