ISLAMABAD: Just like the people from the war ravaged regions of the Middle East fleeing their homes, heading for Europe to save their lives, people from the conflict-hit areas of Pakistan also have been fleeing and heading for Europe, Australia , America and Canada.

In fact the people starting migrating from Pakistan much before the unrest started in the Middle East after the emergence of Dai’sh or the IS ( Islamic State ). People migrating from Pakistan fall in two different categories. First, who were initially affected by the war on terror spearheaded by the US against Al-Qaida in Afghanistan and later they got sandwiched between the militants of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Pakistan Army, when the large-scale military operation ‘Zarb-e-Azb’ was launched against the militants, particularly focused on the Tribal Areas of Pakistan and in general all over the country. And, the second are the religious minorities like Shia Hazara community of Baluchistan and the third is a small number of Ahmadis, a community declared non-Muslims by Pakistan constitutionally.

“Both the Shias, especially the Hazara community in Baluchistan and the Ahmadis are victims of religious persecution. Though these Pakistanis are not migrating in hoards like we have been seeing from Iraq and Syria but there has been a steady trickle for many a years now," said Mubarik Ahmed Virk, a veteran Pakistani journalist.

Unable to fulfill legal requirements, very few Pakistanis believe to follow the legal process for immigration. Majority of them adopt a course, which is not only illegal but full of hazards, to reach the shores of Europe. They spend hefty amounts to smugglers and traffickers of criminal syndicates to take them to Europe. They sell them false dreams of green pastures through death-defying road to Europe. The amount they pay to their agents ranges between $8,000 and $13,000.

"I spent Rs1.3 million ($13,000) to reach here after journeying for nine months. Now, I am waiting for an opportunity to cross into England. In last five months, I was caught three times while hiding in a lorry. I hope to succeed this time,” said Shoaib Afridi, a resident of Jamrud town of Khyber tribal region. “I’ve now stopped interaction with my family which sent me here with high expectations. I’ve not sent a single penny in last nine months and they ask for paying off the debt they had borrowed for sending me here,” he said. Afridi lives with six Pashto-speaking Afghan nationals in a tent in a forest in Calais, France. About 600 Pashtuns, most of them from Afghanistan, live under tarpaulins and tents in densely forested area of Calais along with about 2600 imigrants from other countries waiting for their chances to enter England, their dream world.

In the past, majority of Afghans traveled to Europe, Australia and Canada along with Pakistanis on route passing through Baluchistan into Iran via Taftan border. Nevertheless, after December 16, 2014 attack on school in Peshawar, Pakistani authorities started a crackdown on Afghan refugees and the harsh treatment meted out to them by police compelled them to leave the country. Those who have returned to Afghanistan now use a route that passes through their country’s Nimroz province into Iran and then onwards to Turkey and other European countries.

From Taftan, a border area between Pakistan and Iran, the immigrants travel on foot and at times changing vehicles to reach the Turkish border and then onwards to. From Istanbul, they use two routes to enter into Europe, one via sea to Greece and the other passing through Bulgaria. Javed Ali, a resident of Sargodha in Punjab province, has paid $8000 to the travel agents with the assurance that they will cross him to Europe. “They took us to Quetta (capital of Pakistan’s Baluchistan province). We stayed there for one week,” said Ali, 43, and a father of three kids. “One night the smugglers loaded us in containers and on the next move we were in Iran.” The journey from Iran to Turkey and Cyprus was the hardest one, Ali recalled. “It was a good opportunity to join the international immigrants (a reference to the refugees from Syria and Iraq,” said Ali. His journey is not yet over but he thinks that after few years this hardship will bring a lot of success. “I know it is dangerous but one has to take risks in life. I hope that I will make my future in Europe better than in my own country,” Ali said.

During last decade, militant and sectarian outfits had targeted all religious minorities across Pakistan but Shia Hazara community of Baluchistan was worst hit by the onslaught of terrorism and sectarianism. They often use a different route that goes through Quetta-Karachi-Dubai and Indonesia. The disastrous voyage starts when people take dinghy ride entering illegally to Australia. In December 2011, 55 persons belonging to Quetta’s Hazara community who had gone missing along with some 150 others as their boat had capsized. Terrified passengers on the boat that was heading for Australia were left to drown as it broke apart in stormy seas about 90km off the coast of Java (Indonesia), revealed accounts of surviving asylum seekers. Most of those gone missing were aged between 19 and 22 years.

Every year Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency arrests eight to 10,000 people illegally traveling to Europe via this route Pakistan-Iran border. “Apart from Afghan nationals, they belong to different areas in tribal regions, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the northwest and parts of Baluchistan. They cross into Iran through unfrequented routes without having valid travelling documents,” said a Pakistani border official posted at Taftan border over phone. “But still many people cross the border and escape,” he added.