The UN data reveals that globally, human trafficking is the third-largest and fastest growing trade, with drugs and weapons generating a staggering total of 31 billion dollars each year. No sector of the world market is immune to this dilemma: 161 industrialised and developing countries are being affected, with millions of people—largely women and children—now reduced to living lives of appalling tragedy and modern-day slavery.

To combat this trans-national organised crime, the UN introduced an International Convention in 2000, the first legally binding instrument in over half a century. It sets out an agreed definition of human trafficking and addresses its cruel chain of abduction, kidnapping, coercion, deception, abuse of power and taking undue advantage of the victim. The helpless victims are vulnerable to exploitation, prostitution, forced sexual labour, slavery, and even the sale of organs.

According to Asia Times, human trafficking is an undeniable part of Asia’s persistent tragedy; a widespread scourge. The shadowy criminals who deal in such human misery have established a systematic trafficking chain worldwide, consisting of several steps—the first of which is recruitment, where trust is built between the recruiter and the potential victim. The victims are most susceptible to false promises, better paid work abroad, or marriage (in which the recruiter poses as the potential ‘husband’). The root causes for such vulnerability are oppressive poverty, ignorance, discrimination and social exclusion.

The next step is transportation and arrival, when the victim is passed on to the subsequent member of the chain, who takes them to a temporary destination. Passports are taken away in order to continue control and eradicate any possibility of escape. Middlemen, intermediaries or brokers act as facilitators in the chain of procurement, arranging visas, procuring travel documents, providing pre-departure orientation, guidance and training, and even negotiating the initial work contract.

When the victims reach their final destination, they suffer the worst forms of abuse, and are deprived of even their most fundamental rights. This core of contemporary slavery involves force, fraud and coercion—there is just no escape. Slavery is thriving, with millions being coerced into this trade.

It is essential to address the greatest tragedy, the demand side of trafficking, which arises from the widespread demand for cheap labour and sex, paid for in human terms by these unwitting victims, who lose their most fundamental human rights in the process.

Data from the UN and Pakistan indicates that in South Asia, about one million Bangladeshis and more than 200,000 Burmese women have been trafficked to Karachi alone for slave trade and sale into prostitution. Since the early ’90s, it has been estimated that 200,000 Bangladeshi women have been trafficked to Pakistan in the last decade, at the rate of 200 to 400 per month. In addition, most Bengali women are forced into slave trade for the equivalent of 1,500 to 2,500 US dollars each.

Besides Karachi, other entry points include Lahore, Kasur, Bahawalpur, Chor and Badin. The victims enter illegally, suffering immense deprivation on the journey; many reportedly die en route. Two hundred thousand undocumented Bangladeshis and Burmese are currently in prison or shelters; others with undocumented lives have been lost to slavery and/or the sex trade.

Political turmoil in Afghanistan is also accompanied by kidnapping and the sale of women at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border where, as of 1991, they’re sold like cattle in the marketplace at minimal rates. Auctions of girls are arranged for three kinds of buyers: rich visiting Arabs, state-funded medical and university students, and wealthy local gentry. The data also claims that the police charges a 15 per cent commission on each sale.

Currently, trafficking of girls between the ages of eight and 15 is rising. Orphaned girls are sold as ‘wives’ to rich men, for further profitable sale.

India and Pakistan are the main supply source for children under the age of 16. Nineteen thousand Pakistani children have been trafficked to the UAE alone. Hundreds of thousands of children are involved in the sex trade; including in Pakistan, where reports indicate that paedophilia is rife in street children. Children are kidnapped even from internet cafes, or other points where children gather.

Strict law enforcement is critical, especially along borders. Since 2005, an Inter Agency Task Force is responsible for coordinating with coast guards, maritime agencies, and police. This linkage has led to the arrest of over 2000 illegal migrants, including 47 [human} smugglers, including agents, sub-agents and traffickers. Further checking is carried out by the anti-trafficking unit and coordinating and monitoring cell.

Proactive measures to combat this crime include the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance; Pakistan has now been removed from the unsavoury category of International ‘Watch List’. The National Plan of Action, with guidelines for further on-going action has been launched, supported by comprehensive legislation for greater protection of victims. Amendments to the trafficking ordinance are in the pipeline.

A ministerial committee oversees progress, for speedier prosecution of arrested individuals, and greater security at entry and exit points, with enhanced policy and legislative steps, matched by technical steps, and forgery detection.

Undoubtedly, there is critical need for greater vigilance along all South Asian borders. Better law enforcement and large-scale national campaigns against human trafficking, including by NGOs are essential, as is the imperative to keep this horrendous trade constantly on the media radar, and in the public mind, with frequent updating of current information.