Mohsin Naqvi says passengers offloaded to safeguard Pakistan's image
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has directed authorities to enforce stricter
screening of travel documents at airports while chairing a meeting to review
the performance of the Immigration Wing of the Federal
Investigation Agency (FIA).
The meeting focused on the government’s ongoing
campaign against illegal immigration, human smuggling, and organised
professional begging networks. The minister’s directive comes amid growing
complaints from travellers about arbitrary offloading at airports despite
holding valid travel documents.
Earlier, in the first week of December, Naqvi
had stated that around 50 to 70 passengers were being offloaded daily to
safeguard the credibility of Pakistan’s passport—an average that would amount
to fewer than 22,000 passengers annually. However, official data later revealed
that approximately 66,000 passengers were offloaded during 2025, nearly three
times the earlier estimate.
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Minister says no passenger with genuine documents is prevented from travelling
abroad
During the meeting, the interior minister
ordered continued and uncompromising action against groups involved in illegal
immigration. “Those engaged in human smuggling deserve no leniency,” he said, emphasizing
that no individual or network would be allowed to damage Pakistan’s image
internationally.
He instructed the FIA to ensure effective enforcement of immigration laws
and to further improve the efficiency of airport immigration screening systems.
Naqvi also called for a decisive crackdown on the professional beggar mafia and
those facilitating their activities.
The meeting was attended by the federal
secretary interior, additional secretary interior, the director general of the
FIA, and FIA directors from the Karachi and Lahore zones.
Addressing concerns that genuine travellers
might face harassment under the banner of stricter checks, an official said the
interior minister had issued clear instructions that no passenger with complete
and valid documentation should be stopped. The purpose of enhanced screening,
the official added, is to curb the use of fake or unverified documents and to
dismantle fraudulent visa networks that exploit citizens and harm Pakistan’s
reputation abroad.
Read More Over
66,000 air passengers offloaded in Pakistan in 2025
Following months of public criticism and
social media backlash over questionable offloading practices, Prime Minister
Shehbaz Sharif took notice of the issue in mid-December and formed a special
committee to review procedures and ensure safe migration.
Confirming
this development, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Chaudhry Salik
Hussain said proposals to address these concerns would be finalized by the end
of January, stressing that safe migration is a fundamental right.
Source: Dawn