The interior minister says those who bring bad name to Pakistan will face strict action
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said professional beggars and people traveling with incomplete documents will not be allowed to go abroad, Radio Pakistan reported.
He spoke to passengers during a visit to Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore on Sunday, accompanied by Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry.
“Those who bring a bad name to Pakistan will face strict action,” Naqvi said, stressing the need to protect the country’s reputation. The Home Secretary also clarified that no passenger would be stopped from traveling without a valid reason.
“Pakistan’s dignity and passenger facilitation are my top priorities,” he added. During the visit, Naqvi and Chaudhry inspected immigration counters and reviewed the departure process to ensure smooth operations at the airport.
Read more: The Prime Minister calls for tighter immigration controls
A day earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad to review measures against human trafficking, undocumented foreign travel and weaknesses in the country’s immigration processes.
The Prime Minister was briefed on the latest enforcement actions by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), including the arrest of 451 people involved in human trafficking and illegal migration.
He also noted the airport inspections carried out by Mohsin Naqvi following complaints about off-loading of passengers, describing the intervention as timely and necessary.
The Prime Minister directed the authorities to ensure that passengers with valid travel documents are not inconvenienced by enforcement measures against illegal travellers.
He stressed the need to improve the efforts of the Immigrant Protectorate and strengthen coordination between the FIA and other relevant institutions to prevent delays for legal travelers.
Emphasizing the role of technology, the prime minister called for greater use of digital tools to increase the efficiency and transparency of immigration procedures. He further directed the authorities to take strict action against corrupt elements within the enforcement agencies, noting that 196 FIA officers and staff had already been dismissed after being found guilty of corruption.
Earlier on Thursday, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) revealed to a parliamentary panel that it offloaded 66,154 passengers this year to curb organized gangs of beggars and illegal immigrants from traveling abroad.
“The rise in readings is multifaceted,” FIA Director General Riffat Mukhtar told the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, chaired by Syed Rafiullah.
The meeting was convened to examine the growing phenomenon of passengers being prevented from boarding flights and the role and performance of the Community Welfare Attaché (CWA) network in protecting Pakistanis abroad.
During the meeting, DG FIA briefed the committee on the operational realities in ports of departure. The FIA director general clarified that 51,000 of these people were stopped due to questionable validity of their travel documents, which fall under three main categories: work visas, tourist visas and Umrah visas.
Read also: 66,154 air travelers disembarked this year
He highlighted that illegal migration and begging are seriously damaging Pakistan’s international image. He reported that 56,000 beggars were deported from Saudi Arabia, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had also imposed visa restrictions in light of the phenomenon.
Mukhtar said illegal migration trends had been observed towards Africa and even on tourist visas to countries such as Cambodia and Thailand. The FIA official defended the stringent measures needed to curb human trafficking and protect Pakistan’s international standing.
Noting that the increase in relief is a countermeasure against fraudulent migration rings, he revealed that 56,000 people involved in organized begging were recently deported from Saudi Arabia.
He pointed to growing restrictions from the United Arab Emirates and new illegal migration routes towards Africa and Europe as drivers of the increased vigilance.
