{"id":28222,"date":"2026-01-18T04:47:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T04:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=28222"},"modified":"2026-01-18T04:47:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T04:47:30","slug":"eu-delegation-visits-sialkot-airport-to-monitor-departure-processes-measures-taken-to-prevent-irregular-migration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=28222","title":{"rendered":"EU delegation visits Sialkot Airport to monitor departure processes, measures taken to prevent irregular migration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"218\" height=\"232\" src=\"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-68.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28223\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A high-level European Union delegation on Friday visited the Sialkot International Airport to monitor the immigration processes and measures to prevent irregular migration, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) spokesperson said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The move comes after around 66,154 passengers were offloaded last year despite holding valid documents, particularly at Lahore and Karachi airports, amid a post-2024&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1878730\/5-dead-after-migrant-boat-with-many-pakistanis-capsizes-off-greek-island\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Greece&nbsp;<\/a>boat tragedy&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1885931\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">crackdown&nbsp;<\/a>on migrant smuggling, which claimed several Pakistani lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" src=\"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-69.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28224\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the spokesperson, the delegation was given a comprehensive briefing on the \u201cworking, performance, and achievements of the FIA Immigration at the Sialkot airport, with particular emphasis on the progress made over the last five months.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The delegation comprised the Frontex officer to Pakistan, an official from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, a representative from the Embassy of Hungary in Pakistan, and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development\u2019s official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe briefing was focused on measures taken to prevent irregular migration, including the effective implementation of risk indicators, enhanced profiling mechanisms, and optimal utilisation of the Second Line Border Control Office,\u201d the spokesperson added in the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"307\" height=\"164\" src=\"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-70.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-70.png 307w, https:\/\/gsrra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-70-300x160.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 307px) 100vw, 307px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The spokesperson stated that the EU delegation was further apprised of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1965072\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pre-departure facilitation<\/a>&nbsp;mechanisms established at both the zonal level and the airport, aimed at strengthening border management, improving operational efficiency, and creating a passenger-friendly environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last week, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced that the FIA had set up pre-departure facilitation desks at all its zonal offices nationwide to assist international travellers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe delegation appreciated and acknowledged the professionalism and commitment in ensuring effective, secure, and robust border control operations at Sialkot International Airport,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In December, the immigration authorities of FIA&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1962115\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">offloaded four passengers<\/a>, belonging to Sialkot and Gujranwala, from flights to Indonesia and Turkiye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An FIA official told&nbsp;<em>Dawn<\/em>&nbsp;that the passengers had been in contact with the human smugglers, who had to send them to Italy through illegal means. The authorities also&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1961693\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">offloaded two passengers<\/a>&nbsp;at the Sialkot International Airport for allegedly attempting to illegally migrate to Europe in the guise of Umrah pilgrims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the past year,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1957696\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">numerous<\/a>&nbsp;incidents have been reported of travellers being&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1891979\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>offloaded<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;from flights at various airports, despite possessing valid travel documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"331\" height=\"152\" src=\"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-71.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-71.png 331w, https:\/\/gsrra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-71-300x138.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 331px) 100vw, 331px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The immigration border management system (IBMS)&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1887348\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">data analysis<\/a>&nbsp;of the July-December 2024 period revealed the trend of passengers travelling to at least 15 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The data analysis showed that most of the passengers travelling to these transit destinations are mainly from nine districts of Punjab, including Sialkot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reference Link:- <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1967314\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1967314<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A high-level European Union delegation on Friday visited the Sialkot International Airport to monitor the immigration processes and measures to prevent irregular migration, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) spokesperson said in a statement. The move comes after around 66,154 passengers were offloaded last year despite holding valid documents, particularly at Lahore and Karachi airports, amid [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-sample-category","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28227,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28222\/revisions\/28227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}