Illegal immigrants die of thirst in Nokundi Balochistan deserts
Syed Ali Shah :
Three illegal immigrants died of thirst and heatwaves in the Nokundi Balochistan deserts. Levies force found the body remnants of the victims in the deserts of Nokundi near the Pak-Iran border. Human traffickers had left the three ill-fated illegal immigrants in scorching heat in deserts.
“The victims refused to pay the additional amount and the human smugglers abandoned them”, Rana Irfan, an illegal immigrant complained to the Taftan administration. Irfan lost a brother, a nephew, and a cousin in the tragedy. Four illegal immigrants including Irfan survived.
The ill-fated people were trying to sneak into Iran when the tragedy struck. Saeed, a human smuggler started demanding Rs. 3,50000 from the victims despite agreeing to Rs. 11,000.
“The driver left the three in the desert and drove away”
“The driver left the three in the desert and drove away”, Irfan narrates the ordeal as his voice cracks. The driver was the brother of Saeed, the human smuggler, he mentioned.
All three walked in scorching heat for 36 hours to find a road, water, and people to survive. “Bad luck, they failed and died of thirst and heat”, Irfan recalls with tears in his eyes.
Khaleequr Rehman, Irfan’s cousin, was laid to rest in Wazirabad, Gujranwala district, while the body of Hafiz Muhammad Bilal, Irfan’s nephew, was temporarily buried where he breathed his last. The body of his brother, Mohammad Sajjad, remained untraced.
“Unbelievable, how I survived”, Rana Fayyaz, an illegal immigrant said. “I cannot forget the horrifying scenes in the deserts”, he recalled.
Thousands make abortive attempts to reach Europe
Every year, thousands of poverty-hit Pakistanis make abortive attempts to reach Europe via Iran and Turkey. Most of them are caught in Iran and Turkey. Very few fortunate people manage to reach Greece, a European country. “Their prime objective is a better life”, an officer of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said. He preferred anonymity.
Most of the illegal immigrants belong to the Punjab province of the country. They belong to Mandi Bahauddin, Gujrat, and other cities. Poverty and unemployment force thousands to flee Pakistan and reach European countries.
Illegal immigrants have also been repeatedly targeted by terrorists on their way to Iran. Iranian and Turkish authorities also subject the immigrants to the worst type of physical and physiological torture. Almost on a daily basis, Iranian authorities catch and hand over illegal immigrants to Pakistani authorities at the Pak-Iran border Taftan.
