The practice of offloading airline passengers at Pakistani airports ignites a debate all around the country and people have started questioning its legality. Although it is lawful, the law imposes certain restrictions, and sets boundaries for the concerned officers and limiting their powers so they could not use it arbitrarily.
It all started as the result of the Greece incident where 40 Pakistanis died while illegally crossing the sea in an attempt to cross the European border. The interior ministry since then started working on it to curb illegal immigration. The relevant laws were already in force but were not being properly adhered to. However, the current regime strictly imposes them and has left no room for illegal immigration and the offloading is part of this plan.
There is no single law dealing with the offloading but it is a practice based on different statutes and in collaboration among different departments and ministries including Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Civil Aviation. The main statute used to justify the offloading of passengers, which allows relevant authorities to examine travel documents and to stop passengers from leaving the country if any document is found false or forged is Pakistan Immigration Ordinance, 1979. However, there is no provision in the ordinance which allows the authority to stop a passenger based on suspicion and without giving reasons in writing. The practice being followed currently where many passengers have been offloaded merely on the ground of suspicion is unlawful and unconstitutional.
However, this practice is heavily criticised and declared arbitrary and whimsical by the citizenry as it is a fundamental right of every citizen to move freely, guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan 1973. But every right is subject to law and restrictions and limitations imposed by it. Therefore, calling offloading a violation of fundamental rights on this point alone has no force. Some citizens have reached the Lahore High Court and invoked its constitutional jurisdiction and prayed that the offloading of passengers may be declared unconstitutional and authorities should have stopped to do this practice, whereas Honourable Lahore High Court ordered the authorities to record the reasons in writing if they offload a passenger. This requirement is not mere an administrative formality but a substantive safeguard linked to constitutional guarantees of due process and civil liberty.
The federal investigation agency has repeatedly clarified that offloading passengers is strictly scrutinized and there is no chance to offload a passenger with valid and complete documents but those with fake, forged and incomplete documents have no right to fly as they cause great damage to country’s reputation as they went missing after arrival on their intended destination and not only cause reputational harm but are a cause of worst ranking of national passport. However, despite assurances by Federal Investigation Agency and Ministry of Interior that those with complete and valid documents should not be hindered, a frustration of public is not getting ease and they still think the process is arbitrary.
In response to debates on social media and gossip among netizens, authorities have claimed that offloading passengers who were travelling illegally helped improve our passport’s ranking compared to before. According to the 2026 Henley Passport index, Pakistan’s passport is ranked 98th worldwide, this is better than its 103rd position in the 2025 Henley index.
Now the question is: are we achieving what we aimed for? Even if yes, it’s not satisfactorily as there are many other ways to make our Passport best in line. It is not only restricted to stop citizens to travel abroad, and in the situation where majority of victims of the offloading belongs to lower middle class who were not travelling for luxury but to make their careers, to earn bread and butter, and to meet the ends. Among them, majority had borrowed money-some from friends or family, others from financial institutions. By adhering this practise, they have not only barred to reach their intended destinations but have been put far from their goals. Now they are not only wondering for household but for the loan too.
The authorities would have or even now can adopt a different approach by focusing on economy, by bringing more investments home, by creating more job opportunities so no one can think to be missed in alien jurisdiction and to plan crossing border illegally in search for a career.
The manoeuvre to offload passengers is not new it has been largely practised in two of Asia’s superpowers both by our eastern and northern neighbours India and People’s Republic of China but circumstances there were different they have done it in an effort to keep intellectual citizens home. However, the courts in India discouraged this practice and ordered authorities to give written reasons if they do so likewise as the Lahore High Court has ordered.
