News Desk: Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Riffat Mukhtar, has revealed that 51,000 people were offloaded from international travel this year, while 8.5 million Pakistanis successfully traveled abroad. He said Saudi Arabia deported 24,000 Pakistanis this year for begging, adding that a total of 56,000 Pakistani citizens have so far been deported from Saudi Arabia on similar charges.
Briefing the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis, the FIA chief said Pakistan’s passport ranking has improved from 118 to 92. The committee was also informed about a case involving a fake football club that sent players to Japan, including the shocking disclosure that a disabled person was among those sent. Investigations later revealed that the same fake club had sent a football team to Japan in 2022 as well.
The meeting, chaired by Committee Chairman Agha Rafiullah, was told that decisions to offload passengers are made on the basis of documentation, available data, and online verification. DG FIA explained that many offloaded passengers lack complete and authentic information about their courses, universities, or employment. In several cases, passengers attempt to travel abroad through agents using incomplete or false information, leading to their offloading.
The committee was further informed that this year Saudi Arabia deported 24,000 Pakistanis, Dubai deported 6,000, and Azerbaijan deported 2,500 Pakistani citizens on charges of begging. It was also disclosed that several individuals attempted to travel to Europe under the guise of performing Umrah.
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