Thousands of Pakistanis have been deported from various countries for begging, officials revealed during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development.

The meeting, chaired by Agha Rafiullah, discussed the issue of Pakistanis being offloaded and deported while attempting to travel or after reaching foreign destinations.

Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency told the committee that 51,000 people were offloaded this year alone. He said thousands of Pakistanis were deported from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Azerbaijan specifically for begging.

According to the FIA, Saudi Arabia deported 24,000 Pakistanis this year on charges of begging, while Dubai deported 6,000 Pakistanis and Azerbaijan deported around 2,500. Overall, Saudi Arabia has deported 56,000 Pakistani beggars over recent years, the committee was informed.

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The FIA chief further disclosed that 24,000 Pakistanis travelled to Cambodia this year, of whom 12,000 have yet to return. Similarly, 4,000 people went to Myanmar on tourist visas, with around 2,500 still unaccounted for.

He said stricter measures against illegal travel have helped improve Pakistan’s passport ranking from 118 to 92. In previous years, Pakistan ranked among the top five countries for illegal migration.

The committee was also told that last year 8,000 Pakistanis travelled illegally to Europe, a number that has dropped to 4,000 this year. The FIA chief added that Dubai and Germany have restored visa-free access for holders of Pakistan’s official passports.

Highlighting operational challenges, the FIA said Islamabad has a higher number of counters but insufficient staff, adding that services of 30 female police officers from Islamabad Police are also being utilised to manage the workload.