After paying a visit to the Islamabad airport on Saturday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that no passenger in possession of “genuine and complete documents” should be barred from travelling abroad.
The development comes as over the past few months, numerous incidents have been reported of travellers being offloaded from flights at various airports, despite possessing valid travel documents. The actions came after a crack down on migrant smuggling after last year’s Greece boat tragedy that claimed several Pakistani lives.
In a post on X, Naqvi said he visited Islamabad airport and met “passengers travelling abroad to hear their concerns directly”.
“Ordered a strict crackdown against visa agents exploiting innocent people. Took serious notice of a passenger’s November 7, complaint about low staffing at immigration and directed an immediate inquiry with a review of CCTV footage,” he said.
“No passenger with genuine and complete documents should ever be stopped from travelling but those attempting to travel on fake or unverified documents will not be allowed under any circumstances, as such actions damage Pakistan’s reputation,” he said.
“Agent mafias playing with people’s futures for money will face zero tolerance,” he said.
On Thursday, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) clarified that people were only being offloaded or denied boarding if they did not have valid documents or if authorities suspected them of working with migrant smugglers.
The same day, the agency also initiated legal action against those involved in spreading fabricated information on social media regarding the offloading of passengers.
Earlier this month, FIA Director General Riffat Mukhtar had acknowledged that incidents of people being offloaded had been reported at Lahore and Karachi airports, and that investigations were underway.
