The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Pakistan is taking a strong stance against individuals it identifies as ‘professional beggars.’ To prevent them from traveling abroad, the FIA is blacklisting their passports.
The Director-General of FIA, Mohsin Butt, has instructed all airports to implement thorough passenger screening to discourage these individuals from leaving the country.
This crackdown by FIA has led to 74 passengers being offloaded and transferred from various airports to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circles for further investigation.
These passengers were accused of being involved in begging. The reason for this action is the concern about the significant number of professional beggars, many of whom are of Pakistani origin, detained in the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia.
This issue has raised concerns within the Pakistani government and among overseas Pakistanis as it harms the reputation of their fellow countrymen abroad.
The FIA is actively pursuing cases against both the accused beggars and the agents involved in these activities, demonstrating the seriousness with which they are addressing this matter.
