The federal government has initiated the cancellation of passports belonging to over 7,800 Pakistani citizens who were deported from various countries between 2019 and 2025 due to their involvement in begging and other unlawful activities overseas.
During a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, officials from the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis revealed that 7,873 individuals had been deported over the past six years. Among them, around 5,600 were expelled for begging, particularly from Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar.
To curb such behavior, the Interior Ministry has placed these individuals on the Passport Control List (PCL) and begun the process of cancelling their passports.
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The meeting, chaired by Senator Zeeshan Khanzada at Parliament House, focused on the growing problem of deportations and measures being taken in response. Mustafa Jamal Kazi, Director General of Passport and Immigration, expressed concern about Pakistani pilgrims overstaying their visas in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq. He reported that last year alone, 34,000 Pakistanis were deported from Iran, while 50,000 were expelled from Iraq.
Kazi also warned of a sharp rise in asylum applications from Pakistani citizens. According to him, around 125,000 Pakistanis applied for asylum in various European countries in the past year alone, raising fresh concerns for immigration authorities.
