The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has constituted a 14-member committee after reports of Pakistani passengers being offloaded at airports despite holding valid travel documents.
Passengers last month complained about being offloaded at various airports, triggering criticism on social media platforms.
The reports emerged during Pakistan’s crackdown on illegal immigration. In recent years, officials have detained Pakistani and foreign nationals at airports for attempting to travel with forged documents.
A notification by the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis said that the committee includes the federal minister for overseas Pakistanis, the federal IT minister, the state minister for overseas Pakistanis, and secretaries of the relevant ministries. The federal minister for overseas Pakistanis will head the committee.
The committee will deliberate on measures to eliminate or minimize human discretion in the issuance and renewal of the Protectorate of Emigrants stamp for bona fide emigrants travelling abroad. The stamp is mandatory for Pakistani citizens traveling overseas for employment.
The committee will propose an end-to-end digitized process for the online issuance and renewal of the stamp. It will also suggest a mechanism to monitor workers’ satisfaction with the issuance, renewal, and immigration clearance process.
The committee will submit its report to the prime minister within three weeks. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi last month urged authorities not to offload passengers holding valid travel documents.
