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• FIA DG tells NA panel 66,000 passengers were prevented from proceeding abroad this year, mostly at Lahore and Karachi airports
• Most of those offloaded were travelling on visit, Umrah or work visas
KARACHI: At least 51,000 passengers were offloaded at airports this year after failing immigration checks, with a large number of them being offloaded at Lahore and Karachi airports, a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis was told on Wednesday.
“Passengers are offloaded on the basis of document verification, data checks, and online authentication,” Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Riffat Mukhtar Raja told the committee, chaired by Agha Rafiullah.
He said that a total of 66,000 passengers were offloaded at different airports of the country this year.
Of those, 51,000 were stopped for ‘insufficient or unverified documentation’. He told the parliamentary panel that many of those offloaded lacked complete information related to their courses, universities or employment details abroad.
“In many cases, passengers attempt to travel through agents using incomplete or incorrect information,” the FIA DG added.
The parliamentary committee was told that all major airports had been connected to Nadra’s online database to strengthen immigration controls. “No passenger was cleared under political influence or VIP pressure,” he said. However, he added, as many as 180 FIA officials involved in corruption had been dismissed from service.
The officer informed the lawmakers that monitoring was being carried out through cameras installed at immigration counters. Also, he said, “The immigration system is using artificial intelligence to identify suspicious cases in advance.”
He added that most offloaded passengers belonged to the visit, Umrah and work visa categories.
Over the past few months, numerous incidents have been reported of travellers being offloaded from flights at various airports, despite possessing valid travel documents. These actions followed a crackdown on migrant smuggling launched after the 2024 Greece boat tragedy, which claimed several Pakistani lives.
Earlier this month, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said, “No passenger with complete travel documents is being stopped from travelling, and they will not be stopped,” adding that, however, passengers in possession of “incomplete or bogus” documents would definitely not be allowed to travel.
“No passenger who brings disrepute to the country can be allowed to travel,” he continued.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the frequent offloading of passengers from international flights.
8.5m travelled abroad
During the current year, 8.5 million people travelled abroad from Pakistan, while 226 cases were registered for various offences.
“Over the past three months, 450 people were arrested while attempting to cross into Iran illegally,” the DG FIA told the committee. He also revealed that several Bangladeshi nationals were found attempting to travel illegally to Europe via Pakistan. “Bangladeshi citizens travelling on Pakistani tourist visas were caught while heading to Europe,” he said.
He said 287 people were deported last year and 170 this year over the use of fake documents. The parliamentary panel was also told that 24,000 accused of begging have been deported from Saudi Arabia this year.
Opportunities
Secretary for Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry informed the committee that investment worth $1 trillion is coming to Saudi Arabia under Saudi Vision 2030, creating multiple employment opportunities.
“If we can provide better training to skilled manpower, Pakistan can benefit from these opportunities,” he added.
The secretary told the committee that 451,000 Pakistanis travelled to Saudi Arabia last year, while more than 500,000 Pakistanis have been sent to Saudi Arabia during the current year.
Committee Chairman Agha Rafiullah observed that the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission was “not functioning [properly] at all”, adding that officers posted there were temporarily fixing matters instead of resolving them permanently.
Member Ilyas Chaudhry said drivers were provided to community welfare attachés, questioning how grade 17-18 officers were being assigned drivers in Europe. He said “more than 50pc of community welfare attachés have been provided drivers”, asking whether the ministry was aware of the cost of providing a driver to a grade 17 officer in Europe.
Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2025
