KP Minister Meena Khan Afridi barred from travelling abroad

PESHAWAR: Meena Khan Afridi, a provincial minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was stopped from travelling abroad at Bacha Khan International Airport on Sunday, ARY News reported.

Meena Khan Afridi was reportedly scheduled to travel from Peshawar to Germany when immigration authorities intervened and prevented his departure.

Officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) stated that the minister’s name appeared on the stop list, resulting in his being barred from leaving the country.

FIA officials said the action was taken in accordance with existing travel restrictions linked to the stop list. No further details regarding the reasons for the restriction were immediately provided.

FIA reveals reason behind offloading of passengers travelling abroad

Earlier, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) clarified the reason behind the recent reports of passengers being offloaded in large numbers while travelling abroad.

Recent reports from major airports in Pakistan had raised concerns that the FIA was arbitrarily offloading Pakistanis travelling abroad for employment or educational purposes, without providing any reasons.

Sources suggested that immigration authorities had stopped several people from boarding flights, even those with valid work visas. This action sparked criticism from various quarters, with many condemning the FIA’s measures as unjust.

An FIA official explained that passengers were only being offloaded or denied boarding if they lacked valid documents or if there were concerns that they were involved with migrant smuggling networks.