Stern measures reduce Illegal migration by 45 pc: FIA official
Islamabad: Federal Investigation Agency has said that enforcement measures had resulted in a 45 percent reduction in the number of people attempting to leave the country illegally.
The FIA officials stated this in the meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, chaired by Senator Rana Mahmood-ul-Hassan. Officials briefed the Committee on measures to prevent illegal migration and on the deportation of Pakistani nationals from foreign countries. They said a person intending to travel abroad must have complete documentation and must be able to justify the purpose of the visit.
An FIA official said data relating to 250 cases had been placed before the Committee. According to the briefing, 160 people had been deported from Libya and 15 from Poland, with officials noting that Libya was not the declared destination of those travelers. A further 60 people had been deported from Turkey despite having declared Umrah or another country as their destination. The briefing also highlighted cases of people travelling abroad for begging under the pretext of performing Umrah, and of people attempting to reach Europe by sea, some of whom died during journeys in boats.
The FIA said enforcement measures had resulted in a 45 per cent reduction in the number of people attempting to leave the country illegally. Officials added that the European Union had informed Pakistan that it was willing to adopt a more lenient approach to visa issuance if the Government’s actions continued and produced further progress.
Chairman Rana Mahmood-ul-Hassan raised concerns over alleged excessive charges being collected in the name of document verification at offices linked to the Foreign Office. He said what should be a document-verification facility had effectively become a business, with people allegedly being charged hundreds of thousands of rupees. He also referred to information provided by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar that cases had been registered against six persons and that those individuals had obtained bail the following day.
The committee inquired about the rewards list of the top ten officers for the last three years. Customs officials informed the committee that the list was being compiled and requested additional time, which was granted.
