FIA acts against several officers for offloading travellers

• At least 85 officials penalised over misuse of authority during past year, Senate told
• FIA says Directorate of Internal Accountability working to strengthen internal oversight within the agency
• More than 130 passengers offloaded from flights across country in 2025

ISLAMABAD: At least 132 passengers were offloaded from their scheduled flights at various airports across the country in the past year by immigration officers of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) while 85 of its officials were penalised for misuse of authority during this period, according to a report submitted to the Senate.

The FIA informed the Senate earlier this week that strict measures were in place against immigration officials involved in the unjustified offloading of passengers or collaboration with human smugglers.

It added that during 2025, final inquiries found 85 officials guilty of misuse of authority in immigration-related matters and they were penalised.

Among the complaints against FIA officers were allegations of offloading, torture and taking a bribe of Rs500,000 from a passenger at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport.

Similarly, the immigration staff unjustifiably offloaded 15 candidates who were travelling on work visas.

Most of the cases related to passengers being offloaded multiple times for refusing to give bribes to FIA officers. In one case, the brother of a complainant was offloaded and not allowed to board his scheduled flight at Karachi airport.

The FIA report stated that its Directorate of Internal Accountability was responsible for strengthening internal oversight, protecting institutional integrity, and enforcing accountability within the agency.

Meanwhile, FIA records revealed that 132 passengers were offloaded across the country in 2025. The highest number of offloaded passengers was recorded at Islamabad International Airport (62), followed by Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport (54), Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport (32), Multan (21), Faisalabad (six), and Sialkot (three).

However, the figures were compiled by the FIA based on the number of complaints regarding wrongful offloading, instead of its own reported data.

The FIA document submitted to the Senate stated that upon scrutiny of the complainants’ documents, the agency’s inquiry observed that they lacked the requisite travel documentation.

The agency’s report stated that the passengers were accordingly advised to complete the necessary requirements after which they were able to travel successfully.

It added that most of the offloading cases were justified as the passengers lacked sufficient funds, confirmed hotel bookings, protector stamps, complete education-related documents or a justified and clear purpose of travel while some also had incomplete travel documents and other pending requirements mandatory for boarding.

The FIA report further stated that passengers could visit the office of its deputy director, both prior to departure and after instances of offloading, for guidance and clarification.

A pre-departure facilitation desk has also been established at the Faisalabad Zonal Office, where passengers are provided guidance regarding their travel documents, it added.

Recently, the Lahore High Court ruled that immigration authorities could not curtail a citizen’s right to travel abroad on the basis of vague suspicions or unsubstantiated reasons.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2026