Naqvi warns travellers attempting to go abroad with incomplete documents

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said professional beggars and people travelling with incomplete documents will not be allowed to go abroad, Radio Pakistan reported.

He was speaking to passengers during a visit to Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore on Sunday, accompanied by Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry.

“Those who bring a bad name to Pakistan will face strict action,” Naqvi said, emphasising the need to protect the country’s reputation. The Interior Minister also clarified that no passenger would be stopped from travelling without a valid reason.

“The dignity of Pakistan and facilitation of passengers 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: PM 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 recent enforcement actions by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), including the arrest of 451 individuals involved in human trafficking and illegal migration.

He also noted the airport inspections carried out by Mohsin Naqvi following complaints about passenger offloading, describing the intervention as timely and necessary.

The prime minister directed authorities to ensure that passengers holding valid travel documents are not inconvenienced by enforcement actions against illegal travellers.

He emphasised the need to improve the performance of the Protectorate of Immigrants and strengthen coordination between the FIA and other relevant institutions to prevent delays for legitimate travellers.

Stressing the role of technology, the prime minister called for greater use of digital tools to enhance the efficiency and transparency of immigration procedures. He further directed authorities to take strict action against corrupt elements within enforcement agencies, noting that 196 FIA officers and staff had already been dismissed after being found guilty of corruption.

Earlier on Thursday, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has revealed before a parliamentary panel that it off-loaded 66,154 passengers this year to curb organised gangs of beggars and illegal immigrants from travelling abroad.

"The spike in off-loadings is multi-faceted," the FIA director general Riffat Mukhtar told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, chaired by Syed Rafiullah.

The meeting was called to examine the growing phenomenon of passengers being prevented from boarding flights as well as the role and performance of the Community Welfare Attaché (CWA) network in protecting Pakistanis abroad.

During the meeting, the DG FIA briefed the committee on operational realities at ports of exit. The FIA director general clarified that 51,000 of these individuals were stopped due to questionable veracity of their travel documents falling into three main categories: work visas, tourist visas, and Umrah visas.

Also Read: 66,154 air travellers offloaded this year

He highlighted that illegal migration and begging rings are severely 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 view of the phenomenon.

Mukhtar said illegal migration trends had been observed toward Africa, and even on tourist visas to countries like Cambodia and Thailand. The FIA official defended the stringent measures as necessary to curb human trafficking and protect Pakistan's international standing.

He noted that the surge in offloading is a countermeasure against fraudulent migration rings, revealing that 56,000 individuals involved in organized begging were recently deported from Saudi Arabia.

He pointed to growing restrictions from the UAE and emerging illegal migration routes toward Africa and Europe as drivers for the heightened vigilance.