FIA not to arrest deportees who travelled without documents.

Byline: Zulqernain Tahir

LAHORE -- The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has decided, in principle, not to arrest those deported from Turkey and Greece who managed to enter the countries through land route without forged documents.

The FIA took the decision keeping in view a large number of Pakistanis deported every month from Turkey and Greece. Most of them had travelled without making fake documents, but the FIA would earlier book them under the law as it did others who travelled on forged travel documents.

'The FIA will now consider those deported persons from Turkey and Greece as victims, who entered there without any forged or fake travel documents. No legal action will be taken against such persons as Pakistani agent mafia is primarily responsible for luring and transporting them through land route -- Quetta, Iran, Turkey and Greece,' an official told Dawn on Monday.

FIA Punjab (Zone-I) Director Muhammad Rizwan introduced the changes to the standing operating procedures (SOP) for handling of deportees.

According to the new immigration rules, 'The Prevention of Smuggling of Migrants Act, 2018 and the UN's migrant smuggling protocol 2004 envisage non-criminalisation/humane treatment of the smuggled migrants (deportees) and effective prosecution of the perpetrators of transitional organised crime of 'smuggling of migrants'. On the contrary, in practice, deportees are being subjected to vexatious treatment and prosecution under the anachronistic laws.'

It further stated that to curb this treatment, new SOP will be applied at Lahore and Sialkot international airports: 'All deportees (excluding categories A and B) shall be 'released' from the airports within the shortest possible time after identifying the perpetrators/ facilitators (local or international) responsible for the act and recording 'deportee's statement.'

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