Islamabad- Pakistani court allows abducted Azeri woman to go home.

Headline

Pakistani court allows  abducted Azeri woman to go home.

Intro

Islamabad High court orders repatriation of Azeri citizen, Jameela, who was allegedly a victim of human trafficking. 

Story

Shotlist:   ISLAMABAD  , PAKISTAN    (OCTOBER  20, 2020)    (VNA  – ACCESS ALL)

    EXTERIOR OF EDHI SHELTER HOME
    AZERBAIJANI WOMAN JAMEELA, WHO SAYS SHE WAS BROUGHT TO PAKISTAN THROUGH HUMAN TRAFFICKING, SITTING WITH EDHI HOME OFFICIAL
    (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu)  AZERBAIJANI WOMAN JAMEELA, WHO SAYS SHE WAS BROUGHT TO PAKISTAN THROUGH HUMAN TRAFFICKING, SAYING:
    “A woman who used to live in my mamma’s house brought me here under pretext of finding a marital match for me. She snatched my passport from me , as well as my money, and made me do bad things. She did not get a visa for me; only made me do dirty work.”
    CLOSE OF JAMEELA
    (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu)  AZERBAIJANI WOMAN JAMEELA, WHO SAYS SHE WAS BROUGHT TO PAKISTAN THROUGH HUMAN TRAFFICKING, SAYING:
    “ I was here for three years ; then was taken to Karachi. I was sold to a woman in Karachi.”
     JAMEELA SITTING    
    (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu)  AZERBAIJANI WOMAN JAMEELA, WHO SAYS SHE WAS BROUGHT TO PAKISTAN THROUGH HUMAN TRAFFICKING, SAYING:
    “The government should catch these people (human traffickers), and punish them. They should send me home.”
    VAN  BELONGING TO EDHI FOUNDATION PARKED OUTSIDE ISLAMABAD HIGH COURT
    JAMEELA GETTING OUT OF VAN WITH EDHI OFFICIALS AND LAWYERS
    JAMEELA WALKING TOWARDS COURT
    SIGNBOARD OF ISLAMABAD HIGH COURT
    VARIOUS OF LAWYERS AND PETITIONERS ENTERING COURT PREMISES
    HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER ZIA AWAN COMING OUT OF COURT
    (SOUNDBITE) (English) HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER ZIA AWAN SAYING:
    “She is in Pakistan since last ten years , and she was brought as a trafficking victim in Pakistan on the pretext of getting married to some good person. But later on, the perpetrators forced her to do prostitution. So she did prostitution for three years in Islamabad, Pindi, and also then she was taken to Karachi where she also did this three years all the dirty work which the perpetrators, the trafficker wanted. And finally, she ran away , and she took refuge in Edhi Shelter Home where she is staying since last two years.”
    CUTAWAY OF AWAN’S HANDS
    (SOUNDBITE) (English) HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER ZIA AWAN SAYING:
    “Today, the penal petition is finished, because the relief which we wanted was that she should be allowed to go back to her country, and this relief has been given by the court to us. And also we wanted that there should be some investigation inquiry and action on the perpetrators who brought her and who forced her. So FIA has said today to the court that they have already initiated this inquiry. So both issues which we raided before the court we got a success.”
    JAMEELA WALKING BACK TO EDHI VAN/ GETTING INTO VAN
    HEAD OF EDHI FOUNDATION FAISAL EDHI GETTING INTO VAN
    ZIA TALKING TO JAMEELA SEATED INSIDE VAN
    VAN DRIVING OFF   

STORY:   The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday (October 20) , hearing the case of Azeri citizen, Jameela, who was allegedly a victim of human trafficking, directed the authorities to hand her over  to the Embassy of Azerbaijan, and to ensure her repatriation to her country.
The court was informed that Jameela Nizami, daughter of Nizami and resident of Baku, Azerbaijan, had reached Pakistan in 2011, was sold into prostitution and the human traffickers had taken her documents so that she might not escape their clutches.
“A woman who used to live in my mamma’s house brought me here under pretext of finding a marital match for me. She snatched my passport from me , as well as my money, and made me do bad things. She did not get a visa for me; only made me do dirty work,” Jameela told VNA in the Edhi Shelter Home where she has been taking refuge since the last two years. “ I was here (in Islambad) for three years ; then was taken to Karachi. I was sold to a woman in Karachi.”

According to the petition, , the petitioner was sold for Rs 1,00,000/- to an Azerbaijani woman, namely Beeka who was running a brothel in Karachi.
Jameela’s lawyers had prayed to the court to declare that she was  illegally brought to Pakistan by the human traffickers and has been exploited at the hands of human traffickers and as such she is entitled to be repatriated back to her country on the expenses and arrangements of respondents.
However, a representative of Edhi Foundation informed the court that his institution was ready to bear the airfare and travelling expenses of Jameela to send her back to Azerbaijan.

“Today, the penal petition is finished, because the relief which we wanted was that she should be allowed to go back to her country, and this relief has been given by the court to us. And also we wanted that there should be some investigation inquiry and action on the perpetrators who brought her and who forced her. So FIA has said today to the court that they have already initiated this inquiry. So both issues which we raided before the court we got a success,” human rights lawyer Zia Awan told VNA after the hearing.

According to the US Department of State report entitled “2020 Trafficking in Persons Report: Pakistan”,  Pakistan is a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor—particularly from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
END OF SCRIPT
Sheree Sardar ( TNN Islamabad)