A meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis, chaired by Aga Rafiullah, was informed on Wednesday that 51,000 passengers were offloaded at Pakistani airports this year after failing immigration checks, with a large number of them being offloaded at Lahore and Karachi airports.
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.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the frequent offloading of passengers from international flights, an issue that has reportedly affected numerous travellers despite them holding valid documents.
Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Riffat Mukhtar Raja informed the committee that, “Passengers are offloaded on the basis of document verification, data checks, and online authentication.”
Raja told the parliamentary panel that of the 66,000 passengers offloaded this year, 51,000 were stopped by the FIA for insufficient or unverified documentation.
He added 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,” DG FIA added.
The committee was further informed that 180 FIA officials involved in corruption had been dismissed from service, while 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 stressed.
The official further informed the lawmakers that cameras have been installed at immigration counters at airports and that monitoring is being carried out from the control headquarters.
“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. 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,” added DG FIA.
He further stated that 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.
Secretary 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.