Illegal diplomatic passports
It is believed that majority of individuals who obtained an illegal blue passport have already left the country.
While these corrupt officials made billions, thousands of ordinary citizens have been suffering due to the inordinate delay in the issuance of their passports. PHOTO: FILE
The news that over 2,000 diplomatic passports were allegedly, either issued illegally to influential people, or sold for a hefty price is a reflection of the deplorable state of the Directorate General of Passports and Immigration (DG of P&I). According to a news report in The Express Tribune, the sale of blue passports to persons not entitled to use them started in 2010. These passports, which confer certain privileges on the holder and are normally issued to officials on diplomatic assignment abroad without a fee-were sold to ordinary individuals for as much as Rs2 million each. The exact number of passports issued in this manner is still undetermined.
Though the practice came to light in 2012, the FIA was reluctant to investigate the scam, since senior officials of the interior ministry and a former federal minister were allegedly involved in it. While these corrupt officials made billions, thousands of ordinary citizens have been suffering due to the inordinate delay in the issuance of their passports.
Of late, the news coming from the Directorate General of Passports and Immigration has been dire. A backlog of hundreds of thousands of passports persists, with people waiting for over six months for “urgent” passports which the ministry is unable to deliver, since it has run out of lamination paper. Meanwhile, the DG of P&I continues to accept applications from citizens and is even charging urgent fees for passports which it knows it will be unable to deliver. Instead of resolving these issues, the interior ministry has now allegedly awarded the contract for the lamination paper of passports to a US firm allegedly for kickbacks.
Investigations into the issuance of diplomatic passports are currently under way but it is believed that the majority of individuals who obtained an illegal blue passport have already left the country. The brazen profiteering of senior officials in the Directorate General of Passports and Immigration, including a former federal minister, points to a rotten system. A thorough investigation is needed to bring the culprits to book.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 1st, 2013.
Though the practice came to light in 2012, the FIA was reluctant to investigate the scam, since senior officials of the interior ministry and a former federal minister were allegedly involved in it. While these corrupt officials made billions, thousands of ordinary citizens have been suffering due to the inordinate delay in the issuance of their passports.
Of late, the news coming from the Directorate General of Passports and Immigration has been dire. A backlog of hundreds of thousands of passports persists, with people waiting for over six months for “urgent” passports which the ministry is unable to deliver, since it has run out of lamination paper. Meanwhile, the DG of P&I continues to accept applications from citizens and is even charging urgent fees for passports which it knows it will be unable to deliver. Instead of resolving these issues, the interior ministry has now allegedly awarded the contract for the lamination paper of passports to a US firm allegedly for kickbacks.
Investigations into the issuance of diplomatic passports are currently under way but it is believed that the majority of individuals who obtained an illegal blue passport have already left the country. The brazen profiteering of senior officials in the Directorate General of Passports and Immigration, including a former federal minister, points to a rotten system. A thorough investigation is needed to bring the culprits to book.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 1st, 2013.