ISLAMABAD – The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has issued first advisory in 20 years to curb human trafficking as several Pakistanis lost their lives in recent Greece and Morocco boats’ capsizing incidents.
The advisory has been sent to the deputy directors of Immigration across the country, instructing them to enhance monitoring of passengers travelling to 15 foreign countries. It has also put nine cities and two airlines on the radar.
The advisory was prepared after analysing the data from the IBMS database for the period of July to December.
For the first time, the advisory directs enhanced monitoring of travelers aged between 15 to 40 years traveling abroad.
The advisory includes a directive to scrutinize travelers going to Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Senegal, Kenya, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya, Iran, Mauritania, Iraq, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, and Kyrgyzstan.
The advisory stated that these 15 countries were used by Pakistanis as transit points for human trafficking to Europe.
The movement of travelers on tourist, religious, or educational visas to these 15 countries has been reviewed.
The FIA has also directed the deputy director to ensure strict monitoring of travelers from Mandi Bahauddin, Gujrat, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Bhimber, Jhelum, Toba Tek Singh, Hafizabad, and Sheikhupura.
The advisory emphasizes that return tickets, hotel bookings, and all other documents must undergo thorough scrutiny.
It added that special attention should be given to the verification of documents for those traveling on visit or tourist visas. Interviews should be conducted to check the travel purpose and financial arrangements of suspicious passengers.
