DG FIA underscores urgent need to modernize national laws, enforcement.

ISLAMABAD -- National criminal laws and enforcement practices were needed to be modernized in line with global standards, said Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General (DG) Muhammad Tahir Rai while speaking at an FIA-organized ceremony at the Agency headquarters in Islamabad on Friday.

According to a press release issued here, the ceremony was organized to mark the 4th anniversary of the passage of Pakistan's two landmark internationally-recognized UN-compliant laws on human trafficking and migrant smuggling.

Former Additional Director General, Immigration, Tariq Nawaz Malik, who spearheaded the Agency's efforts in drafting and passage of these laws in the Parliament, also participated in the ceremony along with senior officials of the FIA.

DG Rai said Pakistan's experience with the Financial Action Task Force's 'Grey List' and the US State Department's 'Trafficking in Persons Watch List' were important reminders that our legal system could no longer operate in isolation from the global trends, and that we have to bring our domestic law enforcement at par with international police standards.

The DG commended Tariq Malik's past efforts that culminated in the passage of these critical legislations that helped save Pakistan from the US State Department sanctions, which appeared imminent in...