The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Immigration Karachi offloaded two Pakistani passengers at Jinnah International Airport on Saturday over their alleged plan to travel to Thailand for a same-sex marriage and later move to Europe, the agency said.
The passengers, identified as Shahid, a resident of Muzaffargarh, and Khalil, a resident of Sialkot, were travelling on Pakistani passports and tourist visas.
FIA officials offloaded them for further scrutiny of their stated travel purpose and suspected plans to proceed to Europe.
According to an FIA spokesperson, Shahid told immigration officials during questioning that he had lived in Europe for an extended period. He said that he planned to travel to Thailand with Khalil to enter into a same-sex marriage, which they intended to register later in Europe.
Khalil also confirmed the stated purpose of their trip during questioning, the spokesperson said. He told officials that he had met Shahid in 2017 and that the two had remained in contact since then.
Khalil further told immigration officials that Shahid had been providing him with financial assistance of around Rs60,000 per month. He also said that both planned to live together in Europe, according to the FIA spokesperson.
The agency stated that officials offloaded the passengers because they considered further scrutiny necessary in view of the stated plan to enter into a same-sex marriage in Thailand and the possibility of onwards travel to Europe.
The agency stated that its immigration officials checked passengers’ travel documents and stated reasons for travel under applicable laws and procedures.
