Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have stepped up scrutiny of Pakistani nationals in recent months, citing growing concerns over organised begging and criminal activity abroad—an issue Pakistani authorities acknowledge is damaging the country’s international reputation.
Saudi Arabia alone has deported around 24,000 Pakistani nationals this year on allegations of begging, according to Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The UAE has also imposed tighter visa restrictions on most Pakistani citizens, with authorities in the Gulf state expressing concern that some visitors were becoming involved in criminal activities after arriving.
The scale of the problem is reflected in official figures from Pakistan. FIA data shows that in 2025, authorities offloaded 66,154 passengers at airports across the country in an effort to curb illegal migration and dismantle organised begging syndicates operating under the guise of legitimate travel.
FIA Director General Riffat Mukhtar has described these networks as a major source of reputational harm for Pakistan. Speaking on the issue, Mukhtar said the phenomenon was not confined to the Gulf region alone. Similar cases have been detected involving travel to African and European countries, as well as the misuse of tourist visas for destinations such as Cambodia and Thailand.
According to Mukhtar, Dubai has deported about 6,000 Pakistani nationals this year, while Azerbaijan sent back nearly 2,500 individuals over allegations of organised begging. He stressed that such activities undermine Pakistan’s standing abroad and complicate diplomatic engagement with host countries.
Saudi Arabia’s concerns over the issue are not new. In 2024, Riyadh formally urged Islamabad to take concrete steps to prevent beggars from exploiting Umrah visas to travel to Mecca and Medina for alms. At the time, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs warned that failure to curb the practice could have serious repercussions for Pakistani Umrah and Hajj pilgrims, potentially leading to stricter controls on religious travel.
The issue has also drawn scrutiny within Pakistan, where legal experts and analysts argue that begging—particularly when exported abroad—is far from an act of individual desperation. Writing in Dawn last year, attorney Rafia Zakaria described begging as a highly structured and organised enterprise.
“One industry in Pakistan that seems to be very organised and has been quite successful in ensuring that its recruits have plenty to do is the begging industry,” she wrote. “It is such a successful venture that it has now decided to start exporting to, and expanding in, other countries.”
Zakaria pointed out that many Pakistanis have witnessed this phenomenon firsthand during Hajj and Umrah, where beggars often operate in groups near holy sites in Makkah and Madinah. “These beggars set up shop outside the holy places… where they harass foreign pilgrims for money just as they do shoppers in markets across Pakistan,” she noted.
Pakistani authorities say they are intensifying efforts to dismantle these networks through stricter airport checks, enhanced intelligence-sharing, and legal action against facilitators who arrange travel under false pretences. However, analysts warn that without addressing the deeper socioeconomic drivers and the organised nature of the trade, enforcement alone may not be sufficient.
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