Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday stressed that passengers with valid documents will not be prevented from travelling abroad.
The interior minister made the remarks during a visit to Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport, where he also reviewed the immigration process at the counters. Speaking on the occasion, the interior minister said: “Those possessing valid travel documents have neither been stopped in the past nor will they be stopped in future.”
The minister, however, warned that the passengers with unverified and illegal documents would not be allowed to travel abroad, Radio Pakistan reported. “The government will not allow anyone to bring a bad name to the country while travelling abroad,” he added. The minister said professional beggars disguised as passengers will not only be offloaded, but they will also face legal action.
He lauded the FIA officials for ensuring valid documents with passengers and an effective checking process. The interior minister said that facilitating passengers is the topmost priority of the government.
Thousands of Pakistanis were deported from various countries for begging, while tens of thousands were offloaded at airports over suspected illegal travel attempts, a National Assembly committee was informed in December, 2025.
The FIA chief told the committee that 51,000 Pakistanis were offloaded that year alone. Apart from this, he said, Saudi Arabia deported the highest number of Pakistanis, with 24,000 individuals sent back for begging. The UAE deported 6,000 Pakistanis on similar grounds, while Azerbaijan expelled around 2,500 beggars.
He said several individuals attempting to travel to Europe under the pretext of performing Umrah were stopped after authorities found supporting documents indicating plans to enter European countries. “Such passengers were offloaded with evidence,” the FIA DG had said.
The committee was also informed that 24,000 Pakistanis travelled to Cambodia that year, of whom 12,000 had yet to return, while 4,000 went to Myanmar on tourist visas, with around 2,500 not returning.