The recent deportation of 22 Pakistanis who misleadingly posed as a football team to enter Japan seems almost farcical at first; but in reality, it exposes the extreme lengths to which people are willing to go to leave the country. Almost all of these people were driven by poverty, which has grown in recent years to encompass nearly half the population after several decades of steadily coming down.
The desperate migration attempts are fueled by human trafficking networks, which have gained infamy for illegally sending people across borders on treacherous routes that leave thousands of people dead every year. Occasionally, however, they also come up with elaborate schemes to allow people to cross borders legally, or at least under false pretenses, and then overstay their visas. These schemes are also usually safer than other boat or land crossings and can command even higher fees — the fake footballers paid Rs4 million each. But regardless of the route, many illegal migrants end up as victims of human trafficking, unable to even help the family and friends who scrimped and saved to help them. High numbers of illegal migrants also harm Pakistan’s international reputation, leading to new visa problems for law-abiding travellers who face additional levels of scrutiny.
Addressing the crisis requires a multifaceted approach. Pakistan must strengthen economic opportunities to reduce the push factors driving migration, and law enforcement agencies need enhanced resources to dismantle trafficking networks. Internationally, cooperation between countries is also essential to create safe, legal migration pathways and combat human trafficking. In the meantime, a life abroad should not feel like a desperate gamble. The government and rights groups should work to ensure that people understand what life abroad is really like and what can happen to someone who tries to take an illegal route abroad.
