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FIA offloaded 19,000 Pakistanis suspected of illegal immigration in 2022

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  • Europe deported 34,000 Pakistanis last year, says FIA official.
  • The agency registered 3,600 FIRs against agents in 2022.
  • FIA can only “confirm what we stopped and prosecuted”: official.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) offloaded 19,000 Pakistanis suspected of illegal immigration last year, said the agency’s additional director-general North, while sharing details related to operations against human traffickers on Monday.

FIA official Rana Abdul Jabbar’s comments came in the wake of the recent boat capsizing incident near the coast of Greece, which included Pakistanis as well.

When Geo.tv asked if the FIA could confirm the number of Pakistanis crossing the borders illegally, Jabbar said the agency can only “confirm what we stopped and prosecuted.”

The FIA official added that only the one who hasn’t reached or has encountered an incident, will report their whereabouts; others won’t.

“We can share [data] about the people we have stopped from leaving [Pakistan]. Last year, it was 19,000. The catch here is that if someone has legally gone to either Dubai or Libya and successfully reached somewhere in Europe, will never report [that they have reached there],” he said when speaking with Geo.tv on a phone call.

Jabbar also said that Europe deported over 34,000 Pakistanis against illegal immigrants crossing the border last year.

“The FIA registered around 3,600 first information reports (FIRs) against agents,” he said, informing about the number of cases against those involved in human smuggling and trafficking.

According to the FIA’s data shared with Geo.tv, around 5,654 cases were registered by the agency’s Anti-Human Trafficking and Smuggling Wing from 2020 to 2022. These were cases converted from a total of 40,298 enquiries.

In the three years from 2020 to 2022, the FIA has registered 11,795 cases against which 6,234 culprits have been convicted. The agency arrested 3,694 people, including human smugglers, traffickers, agents and accused from 2020 to 2022.

Meanwhile, 30 arrested by the FIA are the most-wanted human smugglers and traffickers of Red Book. Under the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2018, the FIA apprehended 50 culprits from 2020 to 2022, while under the Prevention of Smuggling of Migrants Act, 2018, the agency arrested 878 perpetrators in the aforementioned three years.

During his appearance on the Geo News programme “Geo Pakistan”, the FIA official updated the hosts about the progress in the probe against the traffickers. 

Three human traffickers have been arrested and are currently being investigated by the FIA, he said.

“Witness testimony is extremely important in cases against human traffickers,” the FIA official said.

Jabbar added that the federal agency also contacts countries where human traffickers reside.

Responding to a question regarding the response time of the Pakistani government in the matter, the FIA official said that the information about the boat incident in Greece was obtained as soon as the incident was in news.

He urged the families of boat tragedy victims to contact the FIA to help with the investigations. “Families of the victims are also victims. Don’t be afraid and share the agent’s name.”

Jabbar added that the victims are also witnesses in these cases and will get protection according to the constitution.

He added that agents transport these passengers via Dubai, while some send people to African countries these days.

A day earlier, the FIA arrested a key “human trafficker” in Punjab’s Sheikhupura for sending people abroad illegally. 

Taking action on a tip-off, the investigation agency apprehended the key suspect, Talha Shahzaib, from Sheikhupura. He had received Rs6.5 million from Zahid Akbar, a resident of Farooqabad, for sending him abroad.

The development came hours after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an immediate crackdown on agents engaged in human trafficking, saying they would be “severely punished”.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ latest update shared on Saturday via Twitter, 12 Pakistanis have been identified among survivors of the capsized boat off the coast of Greece.

“At this stage we are unable to verify number & identity of Pakistan’s nationals among deceased,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s embassy in Greece is in contact with local authorities for identification and recovery of country’s nationals.

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Combating Terrorism: Twelve Terrorists Destroyed in Separate Operations by Security Forces

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Eleven terrorists and Kharijis were killed in two separate intelligence-based operations in Balochistan’s Miran Shah District and North Waziristan. One of the victims was Sana Alias Baru, a high-value target.

In the vicinity of Miran Shah in North Waziristan, security forces successfully fought the Khwarij, leading to the death of eight and injury of six.

The general region of Balgatar, Kech District, Balochistan was earlier the scene of an Intelligence-Based Operation that resulted in the deaths of four terrorists, one of them was a high-value target.

Authorities in Kech District were actively seeking Baru, who had a pivotal role in recruiting members of the so-called Majeed Brigade, particularly suicide bombers.

Among the terrorists’ possessions were weapons and ammo.

In order to eradicate any lingering terrorists in the vicinity, a sanitation operation is currently under progress.

With unwavering resolve, the Pakistani security forces will eradicate the terrorist threat from the nation.

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Constitutional Bench Gets to Work: Petitions Dismissed, Fines Slapped on Frivolous Petitioners

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As of today, pending matters are being heard by the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench, which was established under the 26th Amendment to the Constitution.

On its first day of operation, the six-judge Constitutional Bench presided over by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan dismissed several frivolous petitions, including one challenging legislation enacted by the PDM government, and fined the petitioner twenty thousand rupees for bringing the case.

Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali, and Naeem Akhtar Afghan make up the Constitutional Bench, along with Justice Amin.

The bench rejected the appeal challenging the decision of the Supreme Court to appoint Qazi Faez Isa, a former chief justice of Pakistan, to the position of chief justice of the Balochistan high court.

In addition to upholding the Registrar Office’s objections, the Constitutional Bench rejected a petition asking for a change to the general election date on 8 February.

It has become an infructuous affair, the bench said, regarding the review of the Supreme Court’s decision on the review of judgment and order.

Justice Amin Uddin told the Attorney General that the Supreme Court has acknowledged parliament’s involvement in legislation in response to his claim that the verdict has commented on parliament’s position as legislative.

The bench found the petitioner’s claims to be baseless and fined them 20,000 rupees, dismissing their request to outlaw marriages between government employees and foreign nationals.

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Ahsan says all available resources should be used to eradicate smog at the air pollution meeting.

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According to Ahsan Iqbal, the country’s minister of planning and development, a non-traditional approach is required to address the pollution problem, and every available resource would be used to eradicate this grave issue.

Children are disproportionately affected by pollution, the Planning Minister stated during a special meeting on smog and air pollution in Islamabad.

He claimed that cooperation between the federal government and the provinces is urgently needed to address the various problems that climate change has caused in Pakistan.

Smog is interfering with everyday activities, the Minister added, and it has grown to be a serious threat to our future.

Burning crop residue is the cause of smog, he claimed.

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