LAHORE – Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director Captain retired Ali Zia on Wednesday held an important meeting with the immigration staff, emphasizing the need for stronger and more effective measures to curb human smuggling and illegal travel.
It merits mentioning here that the meeting came after strong reaction from general public wherein they condemned the behaviour of Immigration staff during boarding process. The general public alleged on different social media platforms that Immigration staff offload them despite having all required travel documents.
As part of the initiative, the FIA Lahore Director conducted a detailed visit to Allama Iqbal International Airport. During the visit, he reviewed immigration counters and the facilities being provided to passengers.He instructed the immigration officials to ensure courtesy and transparency in all interactions with passengers. Officers deployed at international departure and arrival terminals were directed to maintain a fully professional attitude at all times. The Director highlighted that providing the best possible immigration services to passengers is a key priority for the FIA. He reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to strengthening the immigration system in line with international standards.He further stated that efforts to eliminate illegal travel, fake visas, and human smuggling would be accelerated. The FIA Lahore Director also urged officers stationed at the airport to maintain strong coordination with all relevant departments.
Reiterating the agency’s resolve, he affirmed that operations against human smuggling, illegal travel, and corruption would continue with even greater effectiveness. It is also worth mentioning here that FIA Immigration staff offloaded hundreds of young passengers having all legal travel documents.
The offloading wave started after the Greek boat incidents wherein dozens of Pakistani youngsters lost their lives while travelling to different European destinations illegally. As per FIA sources, youngsters get visit or nominal work visa for certain countries and then from there they try to travel to Europe through sea routes and ultimately meet incidents like the Greek boat incidents. These incidents brought bad name to Pakistan.
