107 Pakistanis deported, 55 offloaded at Karachi Airport due to visa issues

ISLAMABAD: A total of 107 Pakistanis were deported from 12 countries including the US, Belgium and Saudi Arabia, while 55 passengers going abroad were disembarked at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport, immigration officials said on Sunday.

According to reports, the repeated offloading of passengers has resulted in considerable financial losses to the passengers, as many lose their tickets in the process. It is estimated that the 50 offloaded passengers suffered a total loss of Rs10 million.

Among those affected were four passengers going to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman on the stop list. Additionally, one passenger to Canada and two to Nepal were disembarked on visit visas.

Two passengers on Turkish visit visas and two passengers going to Azerbaijan on work visas were also denied boarding.

In another instance, ten Umrah pilgrims were denied boarding due to insufficient funds and lack of advance hotel bookings. A traveler with a Swiss permanent residence card also faced travel restrictions.

Travelers on work visas from Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Algeria, along with visitors from Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Somalia, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and Singapore, were stopped for incomplete documentation.

During this period, 107 Pakistanis were deported from countries including the US, Belgium and Saudi Arabia. From the UAE alone, 40 deportees arrived on multiple flights.

Immigration authorities arrested 14 deportees on their return to Pakistan on charges of drug smuggling and counterfeit currency. Of these, 11 were detained in the UAE on charges of drug smuggling while two were charged with circulating counterfeit currency.

Reports have revealed that many of the deportees had completed prison sentences abroad before returning to Pakistan.