The National Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution demanding that the government probe the offloading of documented passengers at various airports across the country.

Over the past few months, numerous incidents have been reported of travellers being offloaded from flights at various airports, despite possessing valid travel documents.

PPP MNA Agha Rafiullah moved a resolution before the NA today, stating that the “government should take immediate steps to investigate the off-loading of documented passengers at various airports”.

The resolution also urged the government to recommend “administrative reforms to ensure transparency, accountability and the protection of passenger rights, while improving communication so that all off-loading decisions are lawful and properly documented”.

NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq then moved the resolution for voting, which received no opposition and was subsequently passed unanimously.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had linked the offloading incidents to a crackdown on migrant smuggling by denying travel to those with incomplete documents.

In mid-December, growing public fury prompted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to finally take notice of the issue and form a “special committee” to look into the matter.

Earlier this month, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi issued orders to the FIA for the strict screening of travel documents at airports.

In the first week of December, Naqvi had said that 50–70 passengers were being offloaded daily from flights to protect the country’s passport reputation, which, at an average of 60 per day, comes to fewer than 22,000 in a year.

However, official figures showed that the actual number of offloaded passengers in 2025 was three times higher, at 66,000.

According to FIA Director General Riffat Mukhtar Raja, 51,000 of the 66,000 passengers offloaded this year were stopped by the FIA for insufficient or unverified documentation.

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