Pakistani minister accused of human smuggling to Sudan
Sept 19, 2005 (KARACHI) — The Pakistanis returnees from Sudan has demanded with the President Parvez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan for the immediate arrest of a Kashmiri Minister involved in a heinous crime of human smuggling to Sudan.
They were addressing a press conference on Monday at the office of Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International at Karachi.
According to the Pakistani South Asian News Agency (SANA), out of 60 Pakistanis, who were detained in a private jail in Sudan for slavery, Twenty-one returned home. There release from the private jail of an Indian Agent could only become fruitful because of the great efforts of Ansar Burney, Chairman of the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International.
They said that the recruiting agency ‘Kashmir Overseas’ in Rawalpindi is owned by Haji Sardar Mohamed Yaqoob (Minister for Industries of Azad Jammu and Kashmir) which arranged for their visit visas for Sudan on the promise that they will get resident visas and a job in an oil company once they get to Khartoum.
But when they arrives Khartoum on 27th March 2005 they were allegedly sold to an Indian Agent Ravi Ravinder, who took their custody and kept these young Pakistanis in a private jail in Bageer near Khartoum and made them work on slavery.
One of the returnee Shamsher Hussain, with tears in his eyes, showed some pictures of the private jail guarded by Armed Guard, where these returnees spent six months on slavery; he also showed some other evidences of atrocities and miseries they had suffered.
According to details provided by returnee Pakistanis; The Kashmir Overseas in Rawalpindi took huge amounts off these young Pakistanis and arranged for their visit visas with a promise that they will get residence and work in an Oil company in Sudan.
Abbas Ishaq said that they left Karachi by Qatar Airways and arrived in Khartoum on 27th March 2005, where they were received by an Indian Agent Mr Ravi Ravinder, who took them into a camp where they were forced to work on slave labour and watched by Armed Guards to banish their escape.
When they eventually managed to contact Pakistan Embassy in Khartoum; in the beginning they were very sympathetic and assured us their all out cooperation but later they refused to help us after the visit and pressure on Embassy from the influential Minister. They further that they have evidences that the Minister put his pressure on Embassy not to get involved in this matter.
According to Arshad Mehmood; when these young Pakistanis protested against these atrocities, as a result the Agent stopped the supply of food for three months. They were survived by eating only boiled rice and drinking dirty water and living in miserable environment.
They said the role of the Sudan Embassy in this human smuggling could not be ruled out and demanded probe and investigate in the matter. Basharat Abbasi said earlier they all lost all hopes but today they are alive. He urged the Pakistani and Azad Kashmir government to save the lives of his other colleagues who are still stuck in Khartoum.
Ashfaq Khan and Shamsher Hussain requested the President of Pakistan General Parvez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to save the lives of their 37 colleagues who stuck in Sudan for their early safe return to Pakistan.
(SANA/ST)