• FIA officials say scores off-loaded from flights over suspicions
• Purge puts genuine travellers at disadvantage
• Authorities call on Middle Eastern countries to implement stricter visa regimes

GUJRAT: The growing discontent among Middle Eastern states over the increased numbers of Pakistanis involved in begging has spurred authorities into action as they have started vigilant screening of passengers travelling to those destinations.

A senior Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) official told Dawn that immigration staff at airports have off-loaded several passengers from flights in the last couple of months to discourage the trend.

They said potential beggars disguised themselves as tourists to visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Iran, Oman and Turkiye.

Pakistani officials have also expressed concerns over the increasing number of Pakistani beggars in foreign countries. A top official told the Senate Stand­ing Committee on Overseas Pakist­a­nis that 90 per cent of beggars arrested in foreign countries were of Pakistani origin.

In another meeting of the committee earlier this year, the Interior Ministry claimed to have off-loaded 44,000 passengers over similar suspicions over the past two and a half years.

Recently, the interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, also took a keen interest in the crackdown on human traffickers and beggar mafia, according to officials.

FIA sources said that “gangs” of potential beggars mainly operate out of south Punjab districts, and they travel from the Multan airport in disguise as religious tourists.

Genuine visitors ‘at disadvantage’

FIA Gujranwala region Director Qadir Qamar also told Dawn that the airport staff would off-load passengers with fake and suspicious travel documents.

The UAE authorities have also started actively declining visas to Pakistanis who did not have enough money in their accounts to prove them as “genuine visitors”, according to travel agents.

However, this action also has a downside.

Many foreign embassies, especially those of Western and African nations, and their visa services for Pakistan operate out of the UAE.

The travel agents fear that enhanced scrutiny would affect passengers intending to travel to these countries as they have to appear for interviews in the UAE.

Stricter visa regimes

While the authorities have claimed action on their end, they have also asked Middle Eastern and Gulf countries to tighten their visa regimes.

A senior FIA officer said these countries should also look into their visa processing system instead of just pressing Pakistani authorities to stop potential beggars, criminals and illegal immigrants.

For instance, the FIA official said, most Western countries ask for bank statements, property and tax documents along with visa application to ensure that the traveller has means to support themselves during their stay.

He added that the immigration staff at airports now ask passengers — who frequently travel to and from the Middle East in short spans — about their profession, businesses and bank accounts to assess their purpose of travel.

In case of suspicion, travellers are off-loaded from aeroplanes, said the officer.

Repatriation of criminals

Along with the crackdown against rings of beggars, officials are also liaising with foreign countries, especially Middle Eastern states, to bring back wanted criminals.

Punjab police have repatriated a number of outlaws, wanted in heinous crimes, from Dubai in the last couple of years.

Most criminals, belonging to central Punjab districts of Gujrat, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Mandi Bahauddin and Hafizabad, had been repatriated from Dubai through Interpol and handed over to respective district police, according to FIA sources.

The agency is also acting against human traffickers concentrated in Gujranwala, Gujrat and Azad Jammu and Kashmir regions. The crackdown against human traffickers was intensified last year after a boat with hundreds of Pakistanis onboard sank near Greece.

Mr Qamar, the FIA Gujranwala region director, told Dawn that the agency’s anti-human trafficking cell had arrested around 200 alleged traffickers in the last two months, including those involved in the Greek boat tragedy.

The interior ministry has upgraded the FIA office in Gujranwala to the level of a regional directorate to effectively deal with the rackets of human traffickers and other criminals.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2024