Islamabad – On Wednesday, a parliamentary panel was told that 51,000 passengers in Pakistan had been offloaded in the country after failing critical immigration tests in Pakistani airports.
According to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), most of these mishaps took place in Karachi and Lahore airports.
At a gathering of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis, which was presided over by Aga Rafiullah, the Director General of FIA Riffat Mukhtar Raja elaborated that all these measures are aimed at checking the travel documents and averting human smuggling.
The crackdown comes after the tragic Greek boat disaster of 2024, which left several Pakistani migrants dead.
Ensuring Valid Travel and Documentation
The FIA leader explained that the passengers are being checked through data verification, online authentication, and document verification.
Most of the people who were not allowed to fly did not have the necessary information about their university courses and their employment terms in foreign countries, or specific information about their travel agents.
The FIA estimates that some 8.5 million Pakistani people have travelled abroad this year. Although the agency has deported thousands as a way of containing illegal migration, the officials emphasized that no one with full and valid travel documents is being held back.
The interior Minister, Mohsin Naqvi, has already pointed out that the measures are aimed at saving the reputation of the country and helping to make sure that the travellers are not used by the smugglers.
All the major airports are now integrated into the online database of NADRA to modernise the system. AI is being employed to recognize risky cases beforehand, and cameras have been placed at check-in desks to keep track of the events through a central office.
To promote transparency, the agency has also reported that 180 officials who had participated in corruption have been dropped from service.
Opportunities in Saudi Arabia
As immigration controls continue to tighten, there are also major prospects of Pakistani workers, as mentioned by the committee.
Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, the Secretary of the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis, emphasized that the Saudi Arabian Vision 2030 will introduce investment worth billions of dollars, generating millions of jobs.
Over 500,000 Pakistanis have already been sent to Saudi Arabia this year.
Officials pointed out that with the promising employment opportunities that are emerging, Pakistan would be in a position to gain a lot, provided that it could enhance its vocational training and offer more skilled manpower.
The committee, however, was concerned about the performance of the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission, with the Chairman Aga Rafiullah saying that the organization must permanently fix systemic problems but not implement temporary solutions.
Another issue brought up by the panel was the problem of managing community welfare attaches working overseas, noting that there must be no waste when it comes to providing assistance to the Pakistani migrant workers.
