Islamabad, April 2 – As many as 109 Pakistani nationals were among at least 2,722 people from the Asia-Pacific region who died or went missing around the world in 2025 while attempting to enter other countries illegally, according to Pakistani media, citing the latest statistics released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
This marked the second consecutive year in which over 2,700 people have died globally, highlighting the persistent risks faced by migrants and the urgent need to strengthen protection for those on the move, according to the IOM statement. Dawn, Pakistan's leading daily, reported this. The data was collected under the 'IOM Missing Migrants Project 2026'.
The highest number of people who died or went missing during migration – 1,540 – were from Afghanistan, followed by 935 nationals from Myanmar, according to statistics collected by the IOM for the Asia-Pacific region. Pakistan was in third place with 109 nationals, followed by Bangladesh with 80 individuals. According to the IOM, the actual number of deaths along these routes is likely to be higher due to the clandestine nature of irregular movements and the difficulties in tracing migration fatalities, Dawn reported.
In March, Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) offloaded two passengers from a plane at the Multan International Airport after they were allegedly attempting to use Umrah visas to enter Europe, local media reported.
A FIA spokesperson said that immigration staff took action at Multan airport during the routine screening of outbound passengers. Two Pakistani nationals – Sikander Alam and Noor Islam – were heading to Saudi Arabia for performing Umrah. However, initial investigations raised suspicions, prompting officials to refer them for secondary screening for detailed profiling, Dawn reported.
During further investigation, officials found Moroccan visas affixed to the passports of Alam and Islam. After questioning, Sikander Alam and Noor Islam said that their actual destination was Spain instead of Saudi Arabia.
The FIA officials said that the latest case aligns with recent alerts issued by the FIA headquarters about the rising cases in which people try to use Umrah visas as a cover to enter Europe illegally through Morocco.
After the findings, both passengers were offloaded from the plane and taken to the FIA Composite Circle in Multan for further investigation.