National criminal laws and enforcement practices need to be modernized in line with global standards said Director General, FIA, Muhammad Tahir Rai while speaking at an FIA-organized ceremony to mark the 4th anniversary of the passage of Pakistan’s two landmark internationally-recognized, UN-compliant laws on Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling. Tariq Nawaz Malik, former Additional Director General, Immigration, who spearheaded the Agency’s efforts in drafting and passage of these laws in the Parliament, also participated in the ceremony along with senior officials of the FIA at the Agency headquarters in Islamabad.
Director General Rai said that Pakistan’s experience with the Financial Action Task Force’s “Grey List” and the US State Department’s “Trafficking in Persons Watch List” are important reminders that our legal system can no longer operate in isolation from the global trends, and that we have to bring our domestic law enforcement at par with international police standards. The DG commended Tariq Malik’s past efforts that culminated in the passage of these critical legislations that helped save Pakistan from the US State Department sanctions, which appeared imminent in early 2018.
Tariq Malik echoed the remarks of DG FIA and stated that domestic law enforcement could benefit greatly by adopting international best practices and through greater international police cooperation made possible by organizations such as Interpol. Referring to the respective laws on Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking, he said that they could not have been drafted without the technical support of UNODC Country Office, Pakistan. Highlighting the role that Interpol can play in supporting Pakistan law enforcement agencies, he revealed that during the past few weeks Interpol was instrumental in catching around 10 Pakistani criminals who had fled abroad, including several fugitives who were arrested during Interpol’s “Infra Zajil” operation which was organized at the Gulf Cooperation Council Police Headquarters in UAE last week.
At the end of the ceremony the DG FIA presented a shield to Tariq Malik in acknowledgement of his services towards modernization of national laboratory۔
