Nine Pakistanis sold into slavery in Mauritania

LAHORE - Nine Pakistanis belonging to Punjab and NWFP who are being treated as slaves aboard a ship in Mauritania for the last eight months are stated to be now starving, spokesman of Ansar Burney Trust International Fahad Burney revealed here on Thursday.

These ill-fated Pakistanis were trafficked as crewmen by some human smuggler, yet to be traced and identified.

It is said another man Azhar Iqbal, who had also gone to work, was not given any salary by the Company and thus was compelled to work as slave. Though his employer company owed him $ 11,000 it removed him from the service and deported him to Pakistan.

Azhar narrated the story to Mr Burney who is due to call on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Islamabad on Friday (today) and request him to arrange an early release of the said nine Pakistanis, the spokesman said while talking to The Nation.

The prisoners are: Nazir Ahmed, Shah Wazir, Nawab Khan, Muhammed Afzal, Yasir Mehmud, Naseer Ahmed, Javed Khan, Tariq and Muhammed Farid. They are in a private prison in most distressing plight and starving in Mauritania Sea on a ship.

“These Pakistanis were recruited as crewmen by an agent from Pakistan and taken to Malta for a shipping company known as ‘Toopa Shipping’ on a nine month contract, some 26 months ago.” “The name of the ship they were aboard was MV Aqsa-1 - it was later changed to MV Peter,” the spokesman said.

“The Ship MV Peter then moved to Mauritania with these Pakistani crew members where it continued to be stationed for the last eight months. The nine Pakistanis are still aboard the ship; they have not received their wages, nor they are being provided food or clean drinking water,” he added.

He said that these Pakistanis are in a miserable plight - they are not allowed to leave and are being forced to work without any wages. “These Pakistanis, undergoing slavery in Mauritania have no choice but to go fishing for food and drink seawater after boiling it,” he added. 

Ansar Burney has requested President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to direct the departments concerned to arrange release and repatriation of Pakistanis without any further delay.

Meanwhile, families of these Pakistanis have been asked to contact Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International at Karachi.

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