A Europol-coordinated crackdown exposes a sophisticated smuggling ring luring victims with false job promises, only to trap them in debt bondage and sexual exploitation.

Human trafficking is now a global epidemic, representing a serious infringement of human rights that impacts millions of individuals worldwide. This illicit practice exploits victims through coercion, deception or the abuse of power, pushing them into forced labor, sexual exploitation and other unsavory activities.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered on Monday the issuance of red warrants for the human trafficking offenders. The PM chaired the first meeting of the task force formed to curb human trafficking on Monday. He to further strengthen legal framework to combat human trafficking.

The gang deceived young women, capturing them with the aim of selling them into prostitution in Spain, Greece and the United States.

Minister of Women Affairs, Hon. Imaan Sulaiman- Ibrahim,  has called on universities and higher institutions to integrate human trafficking awareness and migration literacy into their curricula as a tool of breaking the cycle of trafficking and illegal migration.

Currently, only gardaí can identify victims of human trafficking, although guidelines are being drawn up for a new mechanism to allow other frontline agencies to identify victims

A tragic incident involving migrants attempting to reach Spain from West Africa may have claimed the lives of up to 50 people, including 44 Pakistanis, according to the migrant rights group Walking Borders.

Special Parliamentary Committee on Anti-Human Trafficking and Human Smuggling convener Uzma Kardar has emphasised the gravity of the situation highlighted by the loss of hundreds of Pakistani lives in recent tragedies involving irregular cross-border smuggling to Greece and Spain.