Photo credit: UNODC
State Minister for Interior Tallal Chaudhry has called for a coordinated global strategy and technology-driven solutions to combat illegal migration, telling an international forum in Vienna that human smuggling is a transnational challenge requiring greater international cooperation, intelligence sharing and expanded legal migration pathways, according to the Interior Ministry.
Pakistan Today reports that while addressing a meeting of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling, Chaudhry said illegal migration was not merely a border issue but a global challenge that demanded collective action.
The minister also urged the international community to expand opportunities for “safe, orderly and legal” migration, saying such measures were urgently needed to curb illegal migration.
Chaudry is visiting Austria to attend the meeting of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling, an international cooperation framework launched by the European Union in 2023 to coordinate efforts among countries and international organizations against migrant smuggling networks.
The ministry noted that Pakistan reported a 47 per cent decline in illegal migration to Europe last year, while more than 1,700 human smugglers were arrested during an expanded nationwide crackdown.
It said Pakistan had also introduced modern technologies, including the rollout of an Artificial Intelligence-based immigration screening system in Istanbul, to detect forged travel documents and prevent illegal departures.
The issue of illegal migration has drawn increasing attention in Pakistan in recent years following the deaths of Pakistani nationals in boat tragedies and the arrest of Pakistani and foreign nationals attempting to travel abroad using forged documents.
