Afghan nationals travelling on forged documents arrested at Islamabad airport

A man and two women wanted to travel to Germany on forged residency permits

ISLAMABAD:

Three Afghan citizens including two women were arrested from Islamabad International Airport on Sunday when they were trying to travel to Germany on fake documents.

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) sources told The Express Tribune that Shiba Ameen, Nida Kharoti and Abdul Biyas Kharoti wanted to travel to the European country on forged residency permits. However, during the immigration process, it emerged that all three had fake documents and were offloaded immediately.

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Later, the FIA arrested the Afghan nationals and transferred them to the anti-human trafficking cell to investigate the case further.

FIA, in recent months, stepped up operations against human traffickers and travel agents involved in the business of fake visa on the pretext of arranging jobs and consultation across Punjab.

Also read: FIA launches operation to trace fraud suspects

According to officials, the traffickers lure overseas job seekers, extort millions of rupees from them and send them illegally to Europe via Turkey and Greece through the Iranian border.

Many people are trapped in the snowbound mountains of Greece and several have reportedly died in recent years.