‘Beggars’ disguised as tourists flock Gulf, Pakistani travelers under scrutiny: Report
Pakistani tourists are under increased scrutiny at international airports after disguised ‘beggars’ started flocking Gulf countries.
Middle Eastern countries are witnessing a surge in beggars of Pakistani origin, leading to authorities increasing their scrutiny of Pakistani travellers boarding international flights, reported Dawn.
The report said that due to the recent increase in Pakistani “beggars” disguised as travelers flocking Gulf countries, the authorities are conducting thorough screening of passengers travelling to these destinations.
This action was taken after a senior officer from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told Dawn that many passengers have been off-loaded by the immigration staff at airports in the last couple of months to discourage this rising trend.
Potential beggars disguised themselves as tourists to visit countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Iran, Oman and Turkiye, the senior officer said.
Pakistani officials also expressed concern over the growing number of beggars from the country being caught in foreign countries in recent months. Around 90 percent of the beggars arrested in foreign countries are from Pakistan, a top official told the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis.
Thousands of passengers off-loaded
The Interior Ministry of Pakistan told in a separate meeting of the committee that over 44,000 passengers have been off-loaded from international flights over similar concerns in the last two and a half years.
FIA told the Pakistani daily that “gangs” of potential beggars mainly operate out of south Punjab districts, and they travel from the Multan airport in disguise as religious tourists, Dawn reported.
While FIA authorities are off-loading passengers with suspicious travel documents, the UAE authorities are also taking steps to curb this trend by actively denying visas to Pakistani tourists who do not have enough money in their bank accounts.
However, this practice has a downside as it is hurting the business of travel agents and discouraging genuine tourists. Travel agents in Pakistan fear that enhanced scrutiny would affect passengers intending to travel to these countries as they have to appear for interviews in the UAE.
Pakistani authorities have jumped into action to stop this practice, and have also asked Middle Eastern and Gulf countries to tighten their visa regimes. FIA is urging Gulf countries to look at the bank accounts and tax documents of travelers before granting them visas.