KARACHI: Twelve countries, including the United States, Belgium, and Saudi Arabia, deported at least 107 Pakistani nationals who landed at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, while immigration authorities have barred 55 people from travelling abroad owing to different irregularities including issues with their travel documents.
Immigration sources revealed that daily offloading is causing passengers to lose their tickets, amounting to heavy financial burdens. It is estimated that 50 passengers incurred a collective loss of Rs10 million due to flight cancellations.
Among the affected, four passengers headed to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Oman were on the stop list, while a traveller bound for Canada and two for Nepal on visit visas were also offloaded.
Similarly, two passengers travelling to Türkiye on visit visas and two others heading to Azerbaijan on work visas were prevented from boarding.
Ten Umrah pilgrims were denied travel to Saudi Arabia due to the lack of upfront payment for hotel bookings and insufficient funds, while a passenger with a permanent residency card for Switzerland faced a similar fate.
Work visa travellers to Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Algeria, along with visitors to Iraq, UAE, Malaysia, Somalia, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and Singapore, were stopped for incomplete documentation.
In a related development, as many as 107 Pakistani nationals were deported from 12 countries, including the United States, Belgium, and Saudi Arabia.
Meantime, immigration officials arrested 14 deportees on allegations of drug trafficking and counterfeit currency as they landed at the Karachi airport.
From the UAE alone, 40 Pakistanis were deported on board multiple flights. Eleven Pakistanis were arrested by the UAE authorities on drug smuggling charges, while two were accused of circulating fake currency, according to immigration sources.
Deported individuals had reportedly served prison terms in the UAE before their repatriation to Pakistan, the sources added.
