ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has directed the authorities concerned to take strict punitive action within a week against culprits involved in human trafficking.
The prime minister chaired a review meeting regarding the prevention of human trafficking in the country, a PM office press release said.During the meeting, the report of the committee formed under the chairmanship of Mushtaq Sukhera was presented in view of the migrant’s boat capsizing incident occurred near Greece in December 2024.
The PM extended his gratitude to Mushtaq Sukhera for compiling a comprehensive report on the matter.He also directed to make the prosecution process more effective against people involved in human trafficking.
“Why disciplinary action has not been taken against government officials who facilitate people involved in human trafficking?”, the Prime Minister queried.
The PM directed to make visa checks and other regulations effective for all those going abroad. “The Government of Pakistan is committed to the complete elimination of human trafficking from the country,” he added.
The Prime Minister also issued instructions to form a committee headed by the Interior Minister to find a sustainable solution to end human trafficking.
In the meeting, the Prime Minister was briefed regarding the measures taken against human trafficking in the country, whereas a briefing was also given on the identification of the Pakistanis in the December 2024 migrant boat accident near Greece and the progress of repatriation of their remains.
Federal Ministers Ahad Khan Cheema, Attaullah Tarar, Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi and senior officers of related institutions participated in the meeting.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday asked the Afghan government once again to act against the TTP carrying out terror activities inside Pakistan from across the Afghan border, calling it unacceptable and a red line for his country.
“Unfortunately, TTP is operating from Afghanistan and carrying out terror attacks and killing innocent people inside Pakistan. This cannot go on. We have conveyed to the Afghan government that we desire good ties with them but TTP should be stopped from killing our innocent people. This is a red line. TTP operating from there against Pakistan is unacceptable,” the prime minister said in his opening remarks at the meeting of the federal cabinet chaired by him.
He said that Afghanistan was a neighboring country with a thousands of kilometers-long long shared border. We desire cordial ties with each other and cooperation in trade, economy and other sectors, he added.
