Thailand's strict travel crackdown on Pakistani's forging e-visas; Violaters to be blacklisted if...

Thailand is cracking down on Pakistanis travelling with forged documents, announcing stringent measures to curb violations. The Thai consulate in Pakistan now requires e-visa applicants to provide original documents, including genuine airline tickets and hotel bookings, according to a report by ARY News.

The consulate has issued a stark warning: applicants and travel agents submitting fake documents will be blacklisted, and strict actions will follow, the report stated.

This move comes after incidents of forged visa use came to light. In October 2024, Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested two individuals at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport for attempting to travel with counterfeit visas. Nazar Abbas, one of the suspects, was bound for the Turks and Caicos Islands with a fake Cuban visa, while the second, Umme Salma, was caught with a counterfeit Iraqi visa while trying to board a flight to Iraq, as reported by ARY News.

In response to increasing instances of human trafficking and visa fraud, Pakistan’s FIA has issued its first travel advisory in two decades. It mandates stricter passenger monitoring at airports, focusing on travellers aged 15-40 using FlyDubai and Ethiopian Airlines, as well as those holding tourist, religious, or educational visas to high-risk destinations.

The advisory identified 15 regions, including Ethiopia, Libya, and Russia, as transit hubs for human trafficking to Europe. It also called for closer profiling of passengers from specific Pakistani cities, such as Gujrat, Sialkot, and Mandi Bahauddin, based on data analysis from July to December.

The crackdown highlights a recurring issue: over 200 Pakistanis were deported from countries like the United States, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia last week due to visa violations, legal complications, and trafficking concerns, reported Geo News. Twelve of those deported were arrested upon landing in Karachi.