ISLAMABAD: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in collaboration with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arranged the first-ever public-private conference on human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
The purpose of the conference was to discuss ways to curb the growing influx of irregular migration from Pakistan. The conference was part of UNODC’s continued support for the government of Pakistan in addressing challenges pertaining to human trafficking.
A number of senior government officials, law enforcement officers and members of civil society, multinational organisations, NGOs, media and other UN agencies attended the conference. Participants shared perspectives of their respective organisations on the solutions to combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling. By arranging this conference with multiple stakeholders, the UNODC aimed at identifying the role each organisation could play in raising public awareness on the dangers associated with these illegal activities.
Pakistan’s UNODC Representative Cesar Guedes emphasized the need for immediate action by the private sector to assist multilateral efforts to tackle the aforementioned challenges.
FIA General Immigration Additional Director Walid Zia spoke about the importance of these issues while discussing significant challenges that Pakistan faced in this regard. Zia gave his firm commitment to these issues and stated that the government was fully committed to meeting its international obligations by developing effective solutions to contribute to the global fight against human trafficking.
