A list titled ‘Red Book of Most Wanted Human Smuggler/Traffickers’ was released by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Tuesday naming the most wanted human traffickers for 2018 which, for the first time, has four female entrants.
According to the report, the number of human traffickers went up from 101 in 2017 to 112 in 2018. Not only that, from the total individuals identified in the 2018 Red Book, 58 are from Punjab, 34 from Islamabad, 15 from Sindh, three from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two from Balochistan.
Moreover, FIA for the first time has added four women to the annual list, who are accused of defrauding people through human trafficking.
The agency reported that “12 of the wanted traffickers have fled abroad”, adding that it is taking help from Interpol to apprehend them.
Another Global Report on ‘Trafficking in Persons’, the number of human trafficking victims globally have been increased as armed groups and terrorists use women and children to “generate funds and recruit personnel”.
In Pakistan, two new laws “The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2018” and “The Prevention of Smuggling of Migrants Act 2018” were approved by the Parliament to protect the “rights of victims of human trafficking and address the needs of smuggled migrants”.