ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities have deported 63 foreign nationals for violating visa regulations and engaging in unlawful activities, marking the latest phase of an intensified nationwide enforcement drive against foreigners operating outside the country’s immigration laws. The deportations were carried out by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Anti-Human Trafficking Cell. According to official FIA statements, those expelled include 36 Vietnamese nationals, 26 Chinese nationals and one Malaysian citizen. All 63 individuals were repatriated to their home countries after undergoing formal legal processing.
An FIA spokesperson confirmed that the arrests were linked to the suspects’ alleged involvement in producing and distributing sexually explicit content, along with other illegal operations within Pakistan. To prevent future violations, authorities have placed all the deported individuals on the national foreign blacklist, permanently barring them from re-entering the country.
The crackdown comes amid a broader law enforcement campaign targeting clandestine call centres operating in major urban centres, including Islamabad. Joint operations involving the FIA, National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) and local police have uncovered networks operating under the guise of legitimate commercial call centres. Investigators revealed that foreign nationals—often arriving on standard visit or business visas—were being recruited to participate in a range of illegal activities, including online financial fraud, gambling, extortion schemes targeting victims abroad and the creation and distribution of illicit digital media.
In response to the growing scale of these operations, the federal government has established a specialised multi-agency task force based at FIA headquarters.
Hundreds of other foreign nationals implicated in similar schemes remain in judicial custody or are undergoing deportation proceedings as investigations continue.
