Says travel restrictions for beggars and illegal immigrants; NA committee orders promulgation of clear SOPs
Inspector General of Police Sindh Riffat Mukhtar. PHOTO: ARCHIVE
ISLAMABAD:
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) revealed before a parliamentary committee that this year it disembarked 66,154 passengers to prevent organized gangs of beggars and illegal immigrants from traveling abroad.
“The rise in discharges is multi-faceted,” FIA Director General Riffat Mukhtar told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, chaired by Syed Rafiullah, on Wednesday.
The meeting was convened to examine the growing phenomenon of passengers being prevented from boarding flights as well as the role and performance of the Community Welfare Attaché (CWA) network in protecting overseas Pakistanis.
During the meeting, DG FIA briefed the committee on the operational realities at the ports of departure.
The FIA director general clarified that 51,000 of these people were detained due to the questionable veracity of their travel documents which fall into three main categories: work visas, tourist visas and Umrah visas.
He highlighted that illegal migration and begging networks are seriously damaging Pakistan’s international image. It reported that 56,000 beggars were deported from Saudi Arabia, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had also imposed visa restrictions in view of the phenomenon.
Mukhtar said trends had been observed in illegal migration to Africa, and even on tourist visas to countries such as Cambodia and Thailand. The FIA official defended the strict measures as necessary to curb human trafficking and protect Pakistan’s international standing.
He noted that the increase in downloads is a countermeasure against fraudulent immigration networks, and revealed that 56,000 people involved in organized begging were recently deported from Saudi Arabia.
He pointed to increasing restrictions from the United Arab Emirates and emerging illegal migration routes to Africa and Europe as drivers for increased surveillance.
Committee members welcomed the law enforcement work but stressed that law enforcement must be accompanied by an accessible redress channel so that genuine travelers who have been wrongfully discharged can get quick relief.
It directed the FIA and the Ministry of Home Affairs to finalize, publish and operationalize a clear SOP for offloading and a visible complaints mechanism at the airport.
The panel was informed that a risk analysis unit has been set up and a mobile application “IMMI” is being developed to improve pre-departure screening and real-time monitoring of immigration counters.
Members urged immediate interoperability between the FIA systems and the Protectorate/E-Protector platform so that “boarding acceptance” verification and checks are carried out before passengers arrive at the airport counter.
The President stressed that the public must be informed about how a passenger can challenge a discharge decision and that contact details and an online complaint form be displayed at all airports.
Community Welfare Attaché (CWA)
The ministry presented the CWA network briefing.
Members received a comprehensive overview of the legal basis of CWAs, merit-based selection process, KPIs and the ministry’s expansion plan to restore and add CWA wings at priority stations.
The committee took detailed note of returns to the Gulf region: CWAs reported that they collectively handled more than 55,000 welfare cases in 2025, including more than 30,000 assisted repatriations/ETDs, more than 3,400 death-related interventions and thousands of prison visits and legal aid interventions.
The committee welcomed these achievements, but also recorded persistent operational limitations: passport confiscation by employers, employer resistance to dues recovery, host country legal limitations, language barriers, and weak outreach to remote labor camps.
He stressed that these limitations must be addressed through bilateral engagement and capacity building within the mission.
Turning to the Gulf region’s performance, members highlighted notable results (rapid issuance of emergency travel documents, targeted repatriations and coordinated legal support) while pushing for better prevention (pre-departure guidance and contract validation), better employer engagement and a dedicated legal aid panel at mission posts to expedite judicial remedies.
The committee ordered the ministry to provide full station performance results for each CWA in the Gulf, including case-level summaries, personnel lists and resource requests, and to present a prioritized plan for the next ten new stations planned in the submission.
