The FIA briefed the Prime Minister on arrests, technological improvements and reforms aimed at preventing illegal travel without harming legal passengers.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday chaired a meeting at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad to review measures against human trafficking, undocumented foreign travel and weaknesses in the country’s immigration processes.
The Prime Minister was briefed on recent enforcement actions taken by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), including the arrest of 451 people involved in human trafficking and illegal immigration.
He also noted the airport inspections carried out by Mohsin Naqvi following complaints about the disembarkation of passengers, describing the intervention as timely and necessary.
The Prime Minister asked the authorities to ensure that passengers holding valid travel documents are not hampered by enforcement measures taken against illegal travelers.
He stressed the need to improve the performance of the Immigrant Protectorate and strengthen coordination between the FIA and other relevant institutions to avoid delays for legitimate travelers.
Highlighting the role of technology, the Prime Minister called for greater use of digital tools to improve the efficiency and transparency of immigration procedures. He further ordered authorities to take strict action against corrupt elements within law enforcement agencies, noting that 196 FIA officials and staff had already been dismissed after being found guilty of corruption.
According to an FIA briefing, the enforcement measures have led to a 47% drop in the number of Pakistanis attempting to travel illegally to Europe.
The briefing also reported a reduction in attempts to travel to the UK and Gulf countries using falsified or fraudulent documents. The main challenges identified included the misuse of work, tourist and visit visas, as well as increased cases of disembarkation and deportation of passengers.
Most of the deportations took place from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Malaysia and Oman.
Read: 66,154 air travelers disembarked this year, FIA tells NA
The FIA has established a risk assessment unit to enable targeted screening of passengers and systematically integrates data on deported and illegal travelers into its databases.
The agency is also focused on improving security measures at airports. Officials said work was underway to activate e-gates, while access to Advance Passenger Information and Passenger Name Records (API-PNR) databases would allow authorities to flag suspicious travel documents in advance.
The meeting also discussed long-term reforms aimed at strengthening border management. These include the development of a mobile application to track passenger data, as well as the restructuring of the FIA’s Integrated Border Management System (IBM-S) and IT services. Artificial intelligence tools will also be deployed to identify patterns and behaviors related to illegal travel.
The meeting was attended by senior federal ministers, including Azam Nazir Tarar, Ahad Khan Cheema, Attaullah Tarar and Talal Chaudhry, and other officials.
Officials said the measures aim to curb illegal immigration and human trafficking while ensuring smoother travel for citizens with valid documents.
