The US State Department has honoured a Pakistan police officer, Zaheer Ahmed, as one of the eight anti-trafficking heroes of 2023 while acknowledging that the country has increased its efforts to curb human trafficking.
The honour list was announced on Thursday at a special event in Washington where Secretary of State Antony Blinken also released the annual Trafficking in Persons report for 2023.
The report places Pakistan among the tier-two countries whose governments do not fully meet the anti-trafficking standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those.
The report identified bonded labour as the most pressing problem in Pakistan. “There were reports of victims being re-victimised, and corruption continued to hinder anti-trafficking efforts. In Sindh, local officials continued to perpetrate bonded labour with impunity in brick kilns and on farms,” the report added.
Recognises Islamabad’s efforts to curb human smuggling The US State Department, however, ac-knowledged that in 2022 Pakistan “demonstrated overall increase in efforts” to investigate, prosecute and convicting traffickers.
“The government identified and referred more victims for protection services, and provincial labor departments referred more bonded labor cases to law enforcement,” the report added.
Zaheer Ahmed, a Deputy Inspector General in Pakistan’s Police Service, was selected from a global list of prominent law enforcers and activists who played key roles in suppressing human trafficking in 2023. He previously served as director of the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Anti-Human Smuggling Unit.
The State Department said Mr Ahmed was “in-strumental in increasing Pakistan’s efforts to combat human trafficking during his time as director of this unit”.
The report urges Pakistan to vigorously increase the number of bonded labour victims identified and referred to services, including by ensuring labour inspectors have sufficient resources to conduct in-spections and report potential trafficking cases to law enforcement.
It asks Pakistan to implement measures to ad-dress corruption in law enforcement and take steps to shield trafficking investigators and prosecutors from external influence; increase prosecutions and convictions of all forms of trafficking, including bonded labour, and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, including complicit officials, which should involve significant prison terms.—AFP
