- The suspects belong to different cities of Punjab, Sindh, KP: FIA.
- “The men who spent the anti-human smuggling circle.”
- The agency indicates that outgoing passenger screening has tightened in airports.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested on Sunday 10 “beggars” expelled from Saudi Arabia at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi.
A FIA spokesman said the suspects were said to have been begged in the kingdom despite their trip to Omra visas.
The people arrested belonged to Rajanpur, Kashmore, Naushahro Feroze, Lahore, Peshawar, Mohmand and Larkana.
“The suspects were moved to the agency’s anti-human contraband circle in Karachi for having a legal action,” added the spokesperson.
Subsequently, immigration agents tightened the screening process of all the country’s airports and examining passengers in all aspects leaving for foreign countries.
These actions were followed by the federal government’s decision to criminalize begging by modifying the 2018 law on the prevention of trafficking in people.
In this regard, the Ministry of the Interior had also submitted the bill on the prevention of trafficking in people (amendment), aimed at refining existing legislation by adding “organized begging” to its article 3.
The changes proposed to the relevant act occur while the question of begging was raised by several countries with diplomatic missions of Pakistan in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Iraq and Malaysia, also confirming it .
Noting that the Pakistanis who visit these countries for Hajj, OMRA and other religious pilgrimages have been involved in begging, diplomatic missions, as the project of modification claim, have urged the Pakistani authorities to take severe measures against People involved in begging and gangs behind them.
In November 2024, the government then put the names of 4,300 beggars on the exit control list (ECL) following a meeting between the Minister of the Interior Mohin Naqvi and the Arabia Arabia Ambassador Nawaf bin Saeed Ahmed Al Maliki.
Hundreds of Pakistani have been expelled in recent weeks from the Gulf countries due to problems ranging from irregularities in the documentation, non-compliance with travel funds, procedural gaps, participation in crimes, begging, begging, begging, begging, begging, begging, begging, begging, begging, begging, begging, begging, begging, begging, begging etc.
Meanwhile, in its attempt to respond to the concerns of human smuggling, the government also imposed strict screening measures in airports, the FIA leading its assistant immigration directors as being more vigilant while cleaning passengers to Boarding plans.
According to directives, an improved system of profiling passengers going to Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Senegal, Kenya, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya, Iran, Mauritania, Iraq, Turkiye, Turkiy Qatar, Kuwaï and Kyrgyzstan.