Curbing human trafficking, migrants smuggling require coordinated response: UNODC.

ISLAMABAD -- Representative of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Pakistan Dr. Jeremy Milsom on Wednesday said that curbing human trafficking and migrants smuggling required a coordinated response at all levels.

Realizing the fact, the government of Pakistan notified provincial and district-level Trafficking in Person (TIP) Coordination Committees earlier this year, he said while speaking at a consultation workshop held here for National and Provincial Anti-Human Trafficking Committees here.

The consultative workshop was organized by the UNODC in collaboration with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to provide an opportunity to all the members of national, provincial, and district-level anti-trafficking committees to meet and deliberate on their objectives.

Dr. Milsom said: 'We, as UNODC, are very pleased with this action of Pakistan and commend its efforts. We hope that there would be great coordination and synergy amongst all the stakeholders, and that the activities will be conducted in a coordinated manner at federal, provincial, and district levels.

'The foundation for curbing TIP and smuggling on migrants (SOM) must be the Palermo Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, to which Pakistan is a signatory. Our approach needs to balance progressive and proactive law enforcement with activities that combat the market forces driving human trafficking and migrant smuggling in Pakistan.'

Director General FIA Mohsin Hassan Butt said: 'We are improving our identification of potential victims and offering greater support to those who are victims of this abhorrent crime. Trafficking is a gross violation of a person's basic rights and dignity and disproportionately affects the most vulnerable, especially women and children. We are working jointly with UNODC and the European Union (EU) to enhance support to the victims of trafficking and vulnerable smuggled migrants. Our National Action Plan to combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling is victim-centered and addresses the gaps related to...