FIA briefed the Prime Minister about arrests, technical upgrades and reforms to prevent illegal travel without harming legitimate passengers
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad on Saturday 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.
According to an FIA briefing, enforcement measures have resulted in a 47% drop in the number of Pakistanis attempting to travel illegally to Europe.
The briefing also reported a fall in attempts to travel to the UK and Gulf countries using forged or fraudulent documents. The main challenges identified included misuse of labour, tourist and visitor visas, as well as increasing cases of passenger off-loading and deportation.
Most deportations took place from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Malaysia and Oman.
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The FIA has established a risk assessment unit to enable targeted passenger screening and systematically integrates data on deported and illegal travelers into its databases.
The agency also focuses on improving security measures at airports. Officials said work was underway to enable e-gates, while access to Advance Passenger Information and Passenger Name Record (API-PNR) databases would allow authorities to flag suspicious travel documents in advance.
The meeting also reviewed long-term reforms to strengthen border management. These include the development of a mobile application to track passenger data, as well as the restructuring of the FIA’s Integrated Border Management System (IBM-S) and IT departments. Artificial intelligence tools will also be deployed to identify patterns and behaviors associated with illegal travel.
The meeting was attended by senior federal ministers including Azam Nazir Tarar, Ahad Khan Cheema, Attaullah Tarar and Talal Chaudhry, along with other officials.
Officials said the measures were aimed at curbing illegal migration and human smuggling while ensuring smoother travel for citizens with valid documents.
