Saudi authorities expose 1,296 fake Pakistani passports linked to Afghan nationals

(Web Desk): The Senate Committee on Interior and Narcotics learned on Thursday that Saudi authorities had found 1,296 people with fake Pakistani passports, who were later confirmed to be Afghan nationals.

During a meeting at Parliament House, Senator Faisal Saleem Rehman, who chaired the session, instructed the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to provide a detailed update in the next meeting about the actions taken against officials involved in issuing fake documents and tampering with the national database.

Senator Irfan Siddiqui asked how many passports had been issued in the last five years that did not belong to Pakistanis. Mustafa Jamal Qazi, Director-General of Passports, responded that 1,296 individuals with fake Pakistani passports had been identified as Afghan nationals. He also mentioned that there were 45 more cases of fake passports. Qazi confirmed that these individuals had been deported to Afghanistan.

Additionally, it was revealed that thousands of fake Pakistani passports had been made, mainly from areas like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gujranwala, and Gujarat. According to reports, 4,500 passports are missing data, 3,000 were made by photo-swapping, and 6,000 were created by tampering with Nadra’s records. These 12,000 fake passport holders are no longer in Pakistan.

The committee also discussed the issue of expired Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs). The Nadra official explained that, according to rules, CNICs must be renewed every ten years.

Senator Rehman raised concerns about unrelated individuals being included in the family trees of real CNIC holders. To prevent this, Nadra has introduced a new policy requiring physical verification of an applicant’s blood relatives and biometric capture of family members.