ISLAMABAD: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) offloaded 39,786 passengers from international flights over the past three years following stricter immigration screening introduced after the 2023 Libya boat tragedy, according to official documents.
The documents state that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered enhanced scrutiny at airports after the deadly migrant boat disaster, prompting the FIA to intensify checks on outbound passengers nationwide.
According to the records, 20,408 passengers were stopped from traveling due to incomplete or missing travel documents. Another 12,673 were offloaded because of low-profile or suspicious travel plans that raised concerns during immigration screening.
FIA sources said many of those passengers appeared financially unable to undertake international travel or had no prior travel history, despite plans to visit destinations such as Saudi Arabia for Umrah, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates or Thailand. Officials said such travel patterns raised suspicions of potential human smuggling or irregular migration.
The documents further showed that 3,450 passengers were prevented from traveling because their names appeared on stop lists or were subject to Interpol restrictions.
Another 505 were offloaded due to questionable travel routes, while 281 were stopped for allegedly carrying forged or fraudulent documents, including fake visas or counterfeit employment-related paperwork.
In addition, the FIA offloaded 176 passengers over irregular travel histories, 145 for document verification, 258 because they were underage, and 24 who were suspected of seeking overseas employment while traveling on visit visas.