Jalil Afridi
Washington DC: Every few months we hear about a migrate boat sinking in some ocean killing dozens of people including women and children. Such news does get attention of the world for one day but then the world waits to hear another such tragic incident.
Yesterday off the coast of Greece another such incident happened where more than eighty people dead bodies are recovered so far and several dozens are missing.
One such incident happened in March and a Pakistani lady, Shahida Raza was among those killed in the ship wreck off the coast of Italy. Shahida was from Quetta and she was a national hockey player of Pakistan. shahida had left her child to seek a better future for herself and her child. One can also wonder about the hard work she must have done to become a part of National Hockey team.
Yesterday’s US State Department briefing started with introduction of Miss Cindy Dyer, who is US Ambassador at large to combat human trafficking. Cindy did not choose the right day to address the media because that same day a very sad incident had taken place off the coast of Greece. Her media interaction was certainly a media mimic. She did mention that Pakistan falls in the top tier of those countries where thousands of people every year use the services of human traffickers to reach their dream destinations.
This business of human traffickers continues to flourish because each year many of these immigrants do make it to their desired destinations and these destinations especially include countries like US, Canada, Uk and a few others. So far the efforts of these countries to combat human trafficking has failed pretty badly and this leaves a big question mark on the security of these countries as well.
On the other hand these dream seekers do not trust the legal way/system to spend their money and try to reach those countries through proper channel. These people choose to risk their lives for a better life and they each carry a sad story behind them.
Whether it was a coincidence or done on purpose that Ambassador Cindy spoke to the journalists at State Department on the same day when eighty plus dead bodies of humans were pulled out of the ocean, at least her speech should have started with prayers for those who died. And with prayers for those whose are left behind these dead individuals.
It’s a shame for those countries where such human traffickers operate and of course this whole cycle can not be completed without the connivance of government machinery. It’s a shame for those countries who let’s it’s citizens die in such circumstances.
The Frontier Post did bring the memory of Shahida Raza in the press briefing of US State Department but the child she has left behind to live in this brutal world does not care about it much because that child needs her mother, who can never come back. Human smugglers from Pakistan are a reality. And in my opinion they are not many in numbers. If any government genuinely tries to get rid of this brutal reality of life, they can do it.
The Frontier Post also asked Ambassador Cindy about human traffickers not getting arrested or serving long imprisonments.
Ambassador Cindy replied by saying that she agrees and until human traffickers work with impunity, this menace can not be controlled. It’s about time that Pakistan and a few other countries realize that dead bodies of their citizens do not deserve to be floating in the oceans.
