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KARACHI: Pakistani authorities have arrested the head of a Karachi-based non-governmental organization on charges of child smuggling and illegal overseas adoptions after a tip-off from the US Consulate, prompting rights activists to say the case exposed flaws in the country’s child protection and law enforcement systems.

Dr. Mubina Cassum Agboatwala, chairperson of Health-Oriented Preventive Education (HOPE), was taken into custody on Monday by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) after a court dismissed her pre-arrest bail application.

The FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle (AHTC) in Karachi registered a case against Agboatwala in July 2025 after receiving a complaint from the US Consulate in September 2023. The consulate had alerted authorities that HOPE had facilitated illegal adoptions of minors, mostly to families in the United States.

“While Pakistan has taken legislative steps with the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2018, and the Prevention of Smuggling of Migrants Act, 2018, the persistence of child trafficking reveals critical gaps in implementation and protection systems,” Pirbhu Satyani, a Sindh member of the National Commission on the Rights of the Child, told Arab News.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) lodged by the police, HOPE, registered as an NGO in 1997, was never authorized to operate as an orphanage or to arrange adoptions.

The report alleges the NGO routinely handed over “abandoned” children to foreign families the day after they were found, without informing police or social welfare officials. In many cases, adoptions were approved via court orders containing suspiciously identical narratives.

The FIR names 23 children, including two reportedly adopted by Agboatwala herself, and stated the organization failed to present evidence proving the children were genuinely abandoned. It accuses HOPE of being engaged in “the illegal business of trafficking of minors for their monetary benefits.”

“Children and families, particularly in rural and impoverished areas, are often unaware of their rights or unable to recognize trafficking,” Satyani said, adding that Pakistan lacked a centralized, child-specific database to track cases from rescue to rehabilitation.

He also noted the scarcity of trauma-informed shelters and reintegration programs for rescued children.

Legal expert Barrister Ali Tahir pointed to a systemic failure of enforcement despite an abundance of laws.

“Pakistan is an over-legislated country where some of the best and most modern laws have been made, but the implementation is almost non-existent,” he said. “The root cause of this is insufficient training and lack of capacity in our enforcement agencies.”

The HOPE case is not the first of its kind. In June last year, the FIA arrested Sarim Burney, head of the Sarim Burney Welfare Trust, on similar charges of smuggling a newborn to the US. In another case, a woman named Kiran Sohail was arrested for allegedly smuggling a child to Mozambique.

Child rights activist Kashif Mirza said that while Pakistan has built a robust legal framework, enforcement remains a persistent challenge.

“Although these laws exist, there are still obstacles in effectively addressing human trafficking in Pakistan, such as difficulties with enforcement, identifying victims and bringing perpetrators to justice,” he said.

He noted that Pakistan is currently ranked Tier 2 in the US State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report, indicating that while efforts are underway, the country does not yet fully meet minimum standards for eliminating the problem.

“This means the country does not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so,” he said, adding the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024 also emphasized the need for better implementation and faster justice.

“With the growing number of children identified as victims of trafficking, it is essential for national authorities to ensure that child protection mechanisms, including care facilities, are informed and prepared to identify and refer cases of child exploitation, while paying special attention to the vulnerabilities that children face regarding trafficking,” Mirza added.

PESHAWAR: Supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party held coordinated rallies across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday to demand the release of jailed ex-premier Imran Khan but were unable to convene in the capital and other key regions due to arrests of supporters and restrictions on public gatherings. 

The rallies mark the second anniversary of Khan’s arrest and come amid a 90-day “do or die” protest campaign the party launched in mid-July. The PTI leadership has pledged peaceful but sustained mobilization against what it calls politically motivated cases against Khan and other party leaders.

Ahead of Tuesday’s rallies, at least 120 PTI supporters and leaders were arrested in raids overnight, security officials confirmed to Reuters. Most of the detentions, made on Monday night and early on Tuesday, were in the eastern city of Lahore where the PTI had vowed its biggest demonstration, as well as protests elsewhere.

At least 200 activists had been arrested from Lahore, said party spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari, adding that the protest would go ahead.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province the PTI has ruled since 2018, saw widespread mobilization on Tuesday despite a ban on public gatherings under Section 144 imposed in the federal capital and other regions. The main rally in the provincial capital, Peshawar, was led by KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, while district-level convoys converged at interchanges and city centers across the province.

“This protest is being held to raise a voice against the illegal arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan and to demand his immediate release,” said a statement by the PTI’s chapter in North Waziristan, a main district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Imran Khan is the hope and voice of the people of Pakistan and is being targeted for political revenge,” party speakers said at a rally in North Waziristan’s main town of Miranshah, adding that “all false and baseless cases must be immediately dismissed.”

Rallies were reported in Swabi, Charsadda, Mardan, Nowshera, Mohmand, Battagram, Abbottabad, Upper Chitral, Shangla, Upper Dir, Mansehra and Kurram, among other areas.

“The Freedom Movement rally will also be held in other districts, with a large number of workers participating,” PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa social media head Ikram Khattana said in a statement shared with media.

“The rally departing from Swabi, Charsadda and Mardan will conclude at Ambar Interchange, Swabi … The rally departing from Chakdara Toll Plaza at 4pm will be led by MPAs Junaid Akbar and Fazal Hakim,” Khattana added.

In Upper Chitral, a major rally was led by Deputy Speaker of the KP Assembly Surayya Bibi and PTI District President Shehzada Sikandarul Mulk. Party representatives said cabinet members, tehsil chairpersons, women’s wing leaders and VC chairmen participated as the caravan moved toward Charon Bridge.

In district Kurram, PTI described the rally as “historic,” and said it was held in defiance of “difficult conditions” for political activism in the area.

“The people of Kurram have proven that they stand with Imran Khan,” the party’s district unit said.

The protests follow a national call to action by PTI, which announced in July it would stage “do or die” demonstrations every week for 90 days to demand Khan’s release.

The party’s leadership claims he is facing over 170 cases, including charges of corruption, sedition and terrorism, which they allege are part of a military-backed crackdown to keep him out of politics. The government and army deny the charges of political persecution.

The PTI ruled Pakistan from 2018 until 2022, when Khan was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote. He was arrested in May 2023 and again in August 2023, and is currently imprisoned at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where he is serving sentences in multiple cases. He has also been disqualified from holding public office by Pakistan’s election commission.

Security was tight in the capital and in parts of Punjab on Monday and Tuesday, with the government imposing Section 144 to prevent large gatherings. In Rawalpindi and Islamabad, authorities preemptively detained dozens of PTI activists, according to local media reports. However, there were no major reports of violence from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the PTI remains in government.

Khan’s party had always created “chaos,” Uzma Bukhari, a spokesperson of the provincial government, told a press conference on Monday.

“No political party can be barred from politics in Pakistan, but a terrorist organization disguised as a political party is not allowed to disrupt Pakistan’s peace.”