The Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) informed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Rights that Pakistan’s passport ranking has significantly improved, rising from 118th to 92nd globally over the past year.
He credited this progress to stricter immigration controls, noting that nearly 51,000 passengers were prevented from boarding flights due to irregularities. The FIA chief disclosed that about 24,000 Pakistani nationals were deported from Saudi Arabia after being found involved in begging or attempting to reach Europe under the guise of performing Umrah.
Additionally, authorities reported the deportation of 6,000 Pakistanis from Dubai and 2,500 from Azerbaijan, largely for similar activities. The committee was also informed that while 24,000 Pakistanis travelled to Cambodia this year, half of them remain untraceable. Likewise, out of 4,000 individuals who travelled to Myanmar on tourist visas, approximately 2,500 have yet to return.
The FIA DG also highlighted a case involving a fake football club that sent a team to Japan, which included a physically disabled individual who was not a footballer. Furthermore, Pakistani authorities uncovered cases of Bangladeshi nationals using Pakistan as a transit to illegally reach Europe on tourist visas.
The FIA chief emphasized that these measures are aimed at curbing illegal travel and human trafficking, which also contributed to the reported rise in the passport’s international ranking.
Azerbaijan, and tracking of unreturned travelers from Cambodia and Myanmar, along with human trafficking crackdowns, contributed to the reported improvement.
Source: Dunya News
