ISLAMABAD: The Director-General of the Federal Investigation Agency told a National Assembly standing committee on Thursday that Pakistan’s passport has improved its global ranking, rising from 118th to 92nd during the current year.
Briefing the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Rights, the Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency chief said the improvement was linked to stricter enforcement measures at airports and abroad, including the offloading thousands of passengers for travel-related irregularities.
He said approximately 51,000 passengers were offloaded from flights this year due to issues such as incomplete documentation, suspected misuse of visas and other irregularities, steps he said helped improve the credibility of Pakistani travel documents internationally.
The committee was also informed that about 24,000 Pakistanis were deported from Saudi Arabia, mainly for begging or for attempting to travel onward to Europe under the pretext of performing Umrah, the minor pilgrimage to Mecca.
In addition, the Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency director-general said around 6,000 Pakistanis were deported from Dubai and about 2,500 from Azerbaijan, with begging cited as the primary reason in most cases.
The FIA chief said stricter controls had improved Pakistan’s passport ranking from 118 to 92, noting that Pakistan had previously been among the top five countries associated with illegal migration but has now exited due to revised policies.
