The quest to lead a better life
has always dogged mankind. The phrase “the grass is always greener on the other
side” is very true. Human beings have been on the move ever since the first
arboreal descended from the trees and became bipedal and learned to walk. It is
this same instinct that propelled people in pursuit of quarry or parcels of land
to populate different parts of the world. How also can one explain the presence
of a group of people that originated in Asia to inhabit Tierra del Fuego on the
southern tip of South America.
However, in the modern world, travel has become both easy and difficult. There
are thing such as visas, travel documents etc which cannot be acquired if you
don’t have the right connections.
Human traffickers exploit the desperation of the people willing to pay any
price, or willing to go to any lengths, in order to get to another country.
Karachi is the hub of human trafficking in Pakistan. People from different parts
of the country are lured into the trap by traffickers who promise them jobs and
better living conditions in different countries. Many people in order to pay
these human traffickers the exorbitant rates they charge, sell their valuables
or take huge loans. Most of the time these gullible people are defended by the
human traffickers. Since this is not a regulated industry it’s very difficult
for the government to keep it in check.
Human traffickers have, in the past, have smuggled people across borders to
countries where the penalty for such crimes is very strict and people caught
crossing borders illegally are shot on sight. One often sees headlines in
newspapers about “migrants die after boat capsizes” or “200 illegal migrants
drown off the coast of Australia”. Granted that people know the risks and mostly
willingly approach human traffickers, the onus is still on the traffickers.
The victim of this human smuggling mafia are in millions. As long as there is
uncertainty in the country there will always be people willing to put their
lives at risk to seek a better life outside of the country.
Here again it’s the governments duty to provide job security to its citizens so
they don’t fall prey & succumb to the stratagems of the human traffickers.
People must realize that a countries wealth is not just minerals or crops but
also its human capital which really steers the country to a better path by
working towards its progress. In ancient times peripatetic humans populated the
world in their peregrinations, but in this day and age it behooves all citizens
of Pakistan to stay in Pakistan and make it a better place to live.