Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has assured that passengers with complete and valid travel documents will not be prevented from traveling abroad.
According to reports, during a visit to Lahore Airport on Tuesday, he said that no passenger with complete documents was being stopped from traveling, and none will be stopped.
“Passengers with incomplete or fake documents will, of course, not be allowed to travel.”
The minister’s remarks follow recent reports of passengers being offloaded at airports despite having valid documents. Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) earlier clarified that only those without complete and legit documents were being denied travel.
Naqvi reiterated the same point on Tuesday and said, “Only passengers without genuine and complete documents will not be allowed to go abroad.”
“No passenger who could bring disrepute to the country can be allowed to travel,” he said.
Earlier, the minister also reviewed immigration procedures and examined the system linking passengers’ travel records to their national ID and passport at immigration counters.
He praised the performance of FIA Director Ali Zia and his team on the fast-track system.
Naqvi also visited immigration counters for returning Pakistani travelers and asked about the time taken for processing. They reportedly expressed satisfaction in response.
It may be noted that reports of passengers being offloaded surfaced after stricter measures were introduced following last year’s Greek ferry tragedy, which led to the deaths of several Pakistanis in illegal migration attempts.
The incident came amid reports of Pakistanis’ alleged involvement in crimes abroad, particularly in Middle Eastern countries.