No passenger with valid documents should be stopped from travelling, says security czar

• Minister visits Islamabad airport to listen to passengers' concerns.
• Directs inquiry into Nov 7 complaint on low immigration staffing.
• "Agent mafias endangering people’s futures to get zero tolerance."
  

During a visit to the Islamabad airport on Saturday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that passengers holding “genuine and complete documents” should not be barred from travelling abroad.

The security czar's remarks follow reports over recent months of passengers being offloaded from flights at various airports despite having valid travel documents.

The federal minister, during his visit, ordered a strict crackdown on visa agents exploiting travellers for financial gain. He took notice of a passenger complaint from November 7 regarding low staffing at immigration counters and directed an immediate inquiry, including a review of CCTV footage.

“No passenger with genuine and complete documents should ever be stopped from travelling,” Naqvi said in his X post.

“Those attempting to travel on fake or unverified documents will not be allowed under any circumstances, as such actions damage Pakistan’s reputation,” he added.

Naqvi further warned that agent mafias playing with people’s futures for money will face zero tolerance. 

On Thursday, amid prevailing rumours and speculations about the alleged offloading of passengers, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) issued a clarification on the issue, saying that no passengers were being offloaded from flights.

"No passenger is being offloaded at Lahore airport," FIA Lahore Zone Director Captain (retd) Ali Zia said, adding that the authority facilitates those passengers whose documents are legal and complete.

"Even immigration authorities cannot stop you with legal documents," he remarked. The official, however, noted that only those passengers with incomplete documents were being stopped.

Lamenting that fake news was being spread on social media regarding the offloading of passengers, the FIA director said, stressing that those going abroad via illegal means are stopped after due profiling.

"Some passengers use women as shields to flee abroad," the official revealed, saying that some passengers also possess documents of fake companies abroad.

"The public is requested not to listen to [such] rumours [as] Unrest is being deliberately created on social media [on the matter]," the FIA director said.

The FIA's clarification came after the government ordered strict measures to curb human smuggling and prevent people from illegally travelling abroad, which came after a number of Pakistanis were killed in boat capsizing incidents attempting to go abroad, have emerged as the top nationality among asylum applicants in 2024-25 in the United Kingdom, accounting for 11,048 people or 10.1% of the total asylum applicants in the last year, as per the UK's Home Office.