Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, to Combat Human Trafficking

Pakistan

Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, to combat human trafficking

Daily Times

ATHENS: Pakistan, Greece, Iran and Turkey have decided to form a joint working group to bolster their cooperation against human trafficking, the interior ministry officials said on Friday. The decision was taken at a two-day meeting of the interior ministers of the four countries held at Athens.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, to combat human trafficking

ATHENS: Pakistan, Greece, Iran and Turkey have decided to form a joint working group to bolster their cooperation against human trafficking, the interior ministry officials said on Friday. The decision was taken at a two-day meeting of the interior ministers of the four countries held at Athens.
Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, the minister for Interior, made the joint working group proposal at the opening session of the meeting on Wednesday.
The meeting accepted the proposals of Sherpao for regular meetings of the Ministers of Interior, the establishment of a working group comprising of experts of the four countries to meet after six months and also for the inclusion of Afghanistan in the regional consultative process.
Mr Sherpao, said that there was a need of imperative arrangements to stop the menace of human smuggling.
During the official meetings between Sherpao and Mr Gorgos Voulgarak, the Greek minister for Public Order, it was decided to put in place quadrilateral arrangements involving Iran and Turkey to promote regional cooperation in combating human smuggling.
Gorgos Voulgarak and the ministers for Interior of Iran and Turkey expressed grief at the havoc caused by the earthquake.
During a meeting with Prokopis Pavlopoulos, the minister for Interior of Greece, Mr Sherpao proposed the consideration of the cases of thousand of Pakistanis, who had entered Greece by December 31, 2004 but could not obtain passports and National Identity Cards for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) for the legalisation of their stay.
Mr Pavlopoulos accepted the proposal and assured Sherpao that modalities for this purpose will be finalised in consultations with the Ambassador of Pakistan in Athens. Later, Carolos Papoulias, the president of Greece, received the Interior minister along with the Interior ministers of Iran and Turkey.
Papoulias expressed the solidarity of the government and the people of Greece with the people of Pakistan. He also conveyed the desire of the government of Greece to augment relations with Pakistan.