ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities offloaded 23 passengers traveling from Karachi to Malaysia to seek employment on visit visas, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said on Friday, as the country ramps up its crackdown on illegal immigration.
The development is part of Pakistan’s continuing effort to curb illegal immigration and human smuggling. Pakistan reported a 47 percent drop in illegal immigration to Europe this year, with more than 1,700 human smugglers arrested.
Authorities said this week 66,154 passengers were offloaded from Pakistani airports in 2025 so far compared to last year’s figure of 35,000.
“The passengers were traveling to Malaysia on flight number D7-109,” an FIA statement said on Friday.
“The passengers were planning to go into hiding after reaching Malaysia,” it continued, adding they “admitted that they were traveling to Malaysia under the cover of visit visas to seek employment.”
