ISLAMABAD:
The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Home Affairs and Narcotics Control on Thursday requested a detailed response from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) within a week on complaints of passengers being offloaded from airports despite having valid travel documents.
The issue was raised during a committee meeting in Parliament House chaired by Raja Khurram Nawaz, where Member of National Assembly (MNA) Chaudhry Naseer Abbas Sidhu criticized “arbitrary actions by immigration officials” at airports.
Sidhu told the committee that Pakistani nationals in possession of valid visas and complete legal documents were still being prevented from traveling without clear justification. “The poor spend huge amounts on air tickets, yet they are relieved for no reason,” he said.
He questioned the legal basis on which FIA officials prevent passengers from boarding flights and called on the government to formulate a transparent and clearly defined policy on off-boarding, arguing that passengers were currently stopped at the discretion of individual officers.
“Whoever an officer decides to stop is stopped without explanation,” the lawmaker told the committee, adding that the practice not only affected travelers and their families but also hurt the country’s foreign exchange inflow.
He highlighted difficulties faced by overseas Pakistanis in obtaining passports and dealing with immigration authorities. He said many Pakistanis who had settled abroad years ago and acquired residency documents in European countries continue to face unnecessary hurdles while traveling to and from Pakistan.
Sidhu called issuance of passport a fundamental right of every Pakistani citizen and urged the authorities to minimize delays in the process. He said reports indicated many applicants were struggling to get passports on time.
“If someone applies for a passport again, it still needs to be issued,” he said, adding that while penalties for repeat applications could be increased, unnecessary delays were unacceptable. The committee directed the FIA to submit a comprehensive explanation at the next meeting.
