ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Company (FIA) offloaded 39,786 passengers in 2025 underneath a “lawful, intelligence-driven and risk-based system” to curb irregular migration and human smuggling, a prime official stated on Sunday.
Chatting with a choose group of senior journalists, Immigration Extra Director Basic Nouman Siddiqui stated passenger offloading, usually criticized publicly, was primarily a preventive step geared toward saving lives, defending residents from exploitation overseas and safeguarding Pakistan’s worldwide picture.
“Offloading choices aren’t arbitrary,” he asserted. They’re based mostly on immigration considerations, suspicious journey patterns, doc verification, destination-country necessities and established commonplace working procedures.
The first goal, he stated, was “the safety of human life and prevention of exploitation by the hands of human traffickers”.
No less than 132 passengers have been offloaded from their scheduled flights at numerous airports throughout the nation previously 12 months by FIA immigration officers, whereas 85 of its officers have been penalized for misuse of authority throughout this era, in keeping with a report submitted to the Senate.
A Nationwide Meeting standing committee was informed in December that at the least 51,000 passengers have been offloaded at airports in 2025 after failing immigration checks, with a lot of them being offloaded at Lahore and Karachi airports.
Rising dangers and lethal penalties
Siddiqui stated the crackdown adopted a number of tragedies linked to unlawful migration routes. Over the previous three years, round 460 Pakistanis have fallen sufferer to such incidents, with at the least 377 reported deaths.
In response to Worldwide Group for Migration’s (IOM) information, 109 Pakistani nationals lost their lives in 2025 alone while attempting irregular migration.
He said the issue gained urgency after the June 2023 Greece boat tragedy, in which a large number of Pakistani migrants perished in the Mediterranean Sea. A high-level inquiry committee formed by the prime minister subsequently recommended stricter enforcement measures, many of which are now being implemented.
To dismantle criminal networks, the FIA ​​registered 2,421 cases since December 2024, resulting in the arrest of 3,130 agents. Authorities seized property worth Rs961.71 million, recovered Rs87.7m and froze bank accounts amounting to Rs239.63m. “These figures reflect the scale and seriousness of human smuggling and trafficking in Pakistan,” he said.
In many cases, passengers were found traveling through suspicious routes, fake overseas employment schemes, forged documents, fraudulent sponsorships or high-risk transit patterns linked to organized smuggling and trafficking networks, he added.
The FIA’s Risk Analysis Unit developed five risk profiles to help immigration officers segregate suspected travelers from genuine passengers. The profiles are reviewed and updated periodically. The measures led to a 75 per cent reduction in deportations related to beggary and a 31pc decrease in deportations due to forgery.
Overall deportations from various countries fell 16pc in 2025 compared to 2024. The agency also cited a 64pc reduction in illegal border crossings into Europe by Pakistani nationals in the first two months of 2025-26, according to Frontex data.
Two categories of offloaded passengers
Siddiqui said offloaded passengers fell into two categories: those offloaded by FIA on immigration or risk grounds, and those not offloaded by FIA, including cases involving airline issues, technical faults, flight cancellations, bad weather, self-offloading, seasonal border closures or requests from other departments.
Besides the 39,786 passengers offloaded by FIA in 2025, another 34,688 were offloaded for non-FIA reasons. These included airline-related disruptions and arrests required by Customs, Anti-Narcotics Force, Airport Security Force and the police.
Facilitation and reforms
To reduce inconvenience for genuine travelers, FIA Immigration has Established pre-departure facilitation desks at zonal offices to help passengers verify travel documents before ticket purchase.
Passengers who believe they were offloaded due to a misunderstanding or incomplete information can approach the concerned border checkpost in-charge for immediate review, and are allowed to travel if found eligible. A 24/7 helpline has also been set up for complaints and facilitation.
Siddiqui noted that immigration staff face challenges in making real-time decisions, often under public pressure and media scrutiny. “Many passengers initially present legitimate purposes, but deeper checks reveal links with traffickers or illegal migration routes,” he said, warning that failure to act could expose individuals to detention, exploitation or even death.
Reforms underway
The FIA ​​has proposed new legislation to strengthen immigration controls and introduce clearer remedial mechanisms for affected travelers.
A Joint Working Group comprising the FIA, Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, and the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis has also been formed.
Siddiqui said the forum will facilitate genuine overseas workers holding valid work visas registered with the Protectorate of Emigrants, while strengthening anti-smuggling measures and coordinated immigration controls.
He affirmed that the FIA ​​remained committed to balancing facilitation of genuine travelers with effective prevention of irregular migration, human smuggling, trafficking, forged travel and loss of Pakistani lives abroad.
The head of FIA’s immigration wing stressed that immigration controls were not merely punitive but protective in nature.
“Our goal is to strike a balance — to facilitate genuine travelers while preventing human smuggling, trafficking and the tragic loss of Pakistani lives,” he said.
