Minor boy with work visa stopped at airport

FIA arrested the boy just before he was about to board a Shaheen Airline flight to Sharjah.

PESHAWAR:

A minor with a work visa was stopped from going abroad by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) at the Peshawar Airport on Monday, officials said.

FIA sources told The Express Tribune that they arrested the minor identified as Akhtar Ali during immigration, just before he was about to board a Shaheen Airlines flight to Sharjah. They said that the arrested boy, said to be around 12 years old and a resident of Mardan, had an ‘employment visa’ stamped on his passport.

After the arrest, the boy was handed over to the FIA’s passport cell for further investigation, said a source familiar with the matter.

The source said that Ali’s documents showed him to be 18 years of age, but he appeared to be as young as 12 years old. In many cases, doctors give medical certificates for age without taking physical appearance into account. The certificate is also used for getting an identity card.

“You will be surprised to see this boy. My immediate reaction after seeing him was how can he work abroad, away from his home?” the source said.

He said that it was unjust of parents to send minors to work abroad, without any supervision and safety of homes. The official said that this was the second such case in which a minor was offloaded and held while going abroad.

On March 10, the FIA’s immigration cell had arrested a minor boy, while he was about to board a Saudi Airlines flight bound for Riyadh with an employment visa, the official added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2011.