Pakistan's airports are looking for ‘beggars disguised as tourists' heading to Gulf

In other nations, scrutiny at the airports are intensified mainly when there is a terror threat or someone trying to flee from the country, however, the scene in Pakistan is completely different and surely bizarre. More immigration staff have been deployed at airports across to catch hold of people leaving the cash-strapped nation “disguising as tourists” for a better living in the Gulf nations.  

A report bt Dawn quoted a senior Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) official as saying that over the last couple of months, several “beggars disguised as tourists” were made to deboard by the immigration staff at airports from flights to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Iran, Oman and Turkey.

90% beggars arrested in foreign countries are Pakistanis

There has been an increasing number of Pakistani beggars in the Middle East countries. This was highlighted by a top official to the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis who informed that 90 per cent of beggars detained abroad are of Pakistani origin.

The Pakistani media report quoted FIA sources as saying that “gangs” of potential beggars, operating out mainly out of south Punjab districts are travelling from the Multan airport in disguise as religious tourists.

In a meeting earlier this year, Pakistan’s interior ministry had claimed that over the past two-and-a-half years, it made 44,000 passengers deboard the flight over suspicions of them disguising as tourists and travelling to the Gulf countries.

Pakistan facing repercussion

The UAE authorities too have gone stringent with its visa verification for tourists from Pakistan and are reportedly declining visas of Pakistanis who do not have adequate money in their accounts to prove them as “genuine visitors”.

All this is leading to the disadvantage of ‘genuine visitors’ as Gulf resorts to stricter visa regime.

A senior FIA officer suggested that the Gulf countries should consider reviewing their visa processing systems instead of solely urging Pakistani authorities to prevent potential beggars, criminals, and illegal immigrants.

Meanwhile, the Dawn report quoted FIA Gujranwala region Director Qadir Qamar as claiming that staff at international airports in Pakistan have been off loading passengers who have been furnishing fake and suspicious travel documents.

Added responsibility for Pakistan

The responsibility of bankrupt Pakistan has increased as it is not just stopping “beggars” from fleeing the country, but is also liaising with foreign countries, especially Middle Eastern nations, to bring back wanted criminals.

In recent years, the Punjab police have repatriated numerous criminals wanted for serious offences from Dubai.

These criminals, primarily from central Punjab districts including Gujrat, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Mandi Bahauddin, and Hafizabad, were brought back through Interpol and were handed over to the respective district police, the Dawn report quoted FIA sources as saying.

The FIA is also taking action against human traffickers operating in Gujranwala, Gujrat, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the report said.  

The crackdown on human traffickers increased after the sinking of a boat last year which was carrying hundreds of Pakistanis near Greece.

Qamar also said that the FIA’s anti-human trafficking unit has arrested nearly 200 suspected traffickers in the past two months, including those linked to the Greek boat incident.