1.1 RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Increase government oversight over procedures of recruitment and monitoring of information passed through informal networks by: a. Strict checks on the so-called “Azad Visa” b. Enforce the mandatory attendance rule of pre-departure briefings for prospective migrants as stipulated under The Emigration Ordinance 1979 c. Amend the Emigration Ordinance and Rules to include specific operating procedures for the handling of complaints against OEPs, subagents and other groups or individuals for recruitmentrelated exploitation d. Amend the Emigration Ordinance and Rules so that it has the authority to monitor and enforce recruitment-related protections over currently unregulated intermediaries including subagents, tour operators, education consultants, and others e. Improve outreach programs at airports, and in cities and towns with a high volume of labour migration 2. Improve coordination between different government and non-government actors involved in ensuring the welfare of low-wage migrant workers and individuals vulnerable to drug trafficking 3. Increase accountability for licensed OEPs through a periodic and transparent review of complaints against them. Enforce existing penalties against OEPs found responsible for recruitment violations, such as the use of unauthorised intermediaries, failure to advertise job vacancies in newspapers, or eliciting fees from migrant workers 4. Improve responsiveness to the requests of families of those imprisoned abroad by simplifying the process by which relatives may seek consular assistance and ensuring formal procedures do not create undue delays and challenges 5. Seek to protect rather than prosecute individuals deceived and coerced into trafficking drugs while migrating abroad for work by: a. Formulating and applying a coherent, effective and non-discriminatory consular protection policy to provide adequate legal and financial support to Pakistani prisoners b. Providing legal aid and ensuring the presence of a tarjuman (translator) during trial c. Conduct appropriate domestic investigations of narcotics-related crimes d. Carry out international coordination between Pakistan and host country authorities responsible for labour migration 6. Ratify the Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97) and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families 4