The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has revealed that its stringent actions at airports, including offloading tens of thousands of passengers, have led to a remarkable improvement in the international standing of the Pakistani passport.
Passport Ranking Soars After Airport Crackdown
In a briefing to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Rights on Wednesday, FIA Director General Riffat Mukhtar Raja stated that the global ranking of the Pakistani passport jumped from 118th to 92nd. He attributed this significant leap directly to the agency's rigorous immigration checks.
DG Raja informed the panel, chaired by Aga Rafiullah, that a major part of this success was the result of offloading approximately 51,000 passengers at Pakistan's airports this year for failing to clear immigration scrutiny. A large number of these interventions occurred at Lahore and Karachi airports.
Details of Offloaded Passengers and Deportations
The FIA chief provided a detailed breakdown, stating that out of 66,000 passengers offloaded in total this year, 51,000 were stopped by the FIA specifically due to insufficient or unverified documentation. He explained that many lacked complete details about their overseas courses, universities, or employment.
"In many cases, passengers attempted to travel through agents using incomplete or incorrect information," DG Raja added. Most of those offloaded were traveling on visit, Umrah, or work visas.
The committee was also informed about large-scale deportations of Pakistani citizens from other countries. According to the FIA, around 24,000 Pakistanis were deported from Saudi Arabia for begging or trying to travel to Europe under the guise of performing Umrah. Furthermore, 6,000 were deported from Dubai and 2,500 from Azerbaijan, primarily for begging.
Broader Pattern of Illegal Travel and Agency Reforms
DG Raja highlighted several concerning cases that illustrated patterns of illegal migration. He mentioned a fake football club that sent a team to Japan, which included a physically disabled person who was not a footballer. The FIA also uncovered instances of Bangladeshi nationals using Pakistan as a transit point to illegally reach Europe on tourist visas.
These measures are part of a broader crackdown on illegal travel and human trafficking, intensified after the 2024 Greece boat tragedy that claimed several Pakistani lives. The DG emphasized that no passenger was cleared under political influence or VIP pressure.
To strengthen controls, the FIA has implemented several reforms:
- All major airports are now connected to NADRA's online database.
- Cameras have been installed at immigration counters, with monitoring from a control headquarters.
- The immigration system is using artificial intelligence to identify suspicious cases in advance.
- 180 FIA officials involved in corruption have been dismissed from service.
In other statistics shared, the FIA reported that 8.5 million people traveled abroad from Pakistan in 2025, with 226 cases registered for various offenses. Over the past three months, 450 people were arrested trying to cross into Iran illegally. Additionally, 287 people were deported in 2024 and 170 this year for using fake documents.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis, Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, separately informed the committee that over 500,000 Pakistanis have been sent to Saudi Arabia during the current year, following 451,000 in 2024.
