SECTION 3 Grievance Mechanisms in Origin and Destination Country In 2010, subagent Imtiaz told Umer that he could help him make a lot of money by travelling to and working in Saudi Arabia. The subagent told Umer he would handle all the passport and visa processing. Umer was taken to Mardan, where he was held at gunpoint, his life and that of his family was threatened if he did not swallow the heroin capsules they gave him. Left with no choice, Umer was forced to swallow the capsules and made to board the flight to Saudi Arabia from Lahore under duress. This section analyzes the effectiveness of existing complaint mechanisms for migrant workers, especially migrant worker prisoners. More specifically, it outlines how multiple actors within the Pakistani government fail to fulfil their responsibility towards Pakistani migrant workers, the lack of consular assistance provided to imprisoned Pakistanis, and the criminalisation of individuals that are victims of drug trafficking. There are several, online and in person, complaint portals available to migrant workers facing difficulties while working abroad. These include the BEOE’s complaint portal, the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation’s Grievance Commissioner and Complaint Cell, and/or the Community Welfare Attaches at Pakistani missions abroad. For cases of smuggling and human trafficking, these institutions can forward complaints outside of their jurisdiction to relevant authorities such as the Federal Investigation Agency or the Ministry of Interior. While Pakistani embassies and consulates are available to provide assistance to migrant workers and Pakistani prisoners, currently, no uniform consular policy for the aid of migrant worker prisoners exists in Pakistani missions abroad. No meaningful efforts have been made to ensure justice for innocent Pakistanis on death row or to protect their rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), which codifies key principles and practices such as persona non grata (Art. 23), the inviolability of consular premises (Art. 31), and the obligation on the receiving state to ‘inform the consular post of the sending State if, within its consular district, a national of that State is arrested or committed to prison or to custody pending trial or is detained in any other manner’ (Art. 36). Even though Pakistan is a signatory to the VCCR, front line officers who are responsible for enforcing these rights are unmindful of their duties as per the convention. Lack of funding, understaffing and a general disregard for prisoners on death row results in VCCR and consular assistance being seen as a matter of the “state’s discretion rather than a legal obligation.” Thus, while more than 90 percent of Pakistan’s overseas workers are employed in GCC countries, the country has shirked its responsibility towards the difficulties faced by this sizeable overseas population. None of the 10 men part of JPP’s petition received adequate procedural or substantive access to justice for the violation of their rights. 16