Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) on Sunday foiled the attempt to smuggle four women to Saudi Arabia, under the guise of Umrah.
According to the agency, a former Punjab police official was involved in trafficking these women to Saudi Arabia.
The incident took place at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi where FIA officials offloaded four women from a flight who were travelling to the Kingdom on an Umrah visa, the agency said.
“According to the initial investigation, the victims were being sent to Saudi Arabia for forced labor,” the FIA said in a statement, adding that the women had traveled to the Kingdom before.
The initial investigation revealed a former Punjab Police employee, Asia, is involved in the smuggling of these women to Saudi Arabia. She also bore the travel expenses of these women to Saudi Arabia.
“An agent named Wasim Gujjar was facilitating the stay and other expenses [of the women] in Saudi Arabia,” the statement said.
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There has been a rising trend of citizens abusing Umrah visas to travel to Saudi Arabia and resort to begging. Pakistan has also recognized the dilemma of professional beggars traveling from the country to the Kingdom under the guise of Umrah.
However, it also realizes that this could impact genuine visa-seekers and particularly religious pilgrims to Saudi Arabia if stern actions are not taken against beggars and human traffickers.
Last year, Saudi Arabia raised the issue with Pakistan on several forums. Pakistan took stern actions with an increase in crackdowns against such groups.
Many passengers have been offloaded from the flights to Saudi Arabia on suspicion of fraud.
Pakistanis are the second-largest expatriate community in Saudi Arabia. Over 2.5 million Pakistanis are living and working in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom is the top source of remittances for Pakistan. Pakistani citizens are already facing hurdles in acquiring UAE visas on similar concerns.