The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has officially exposed a major shift in human trafficking operations within Pakistan. Specifically, the agency revealed new “Dunki” (illegal transit) routes. Human smugglers are increasingly using these pathways to facilitate irregular migration from Pakistan to Europe.
According to a detailed FIA report released on Thursday, traffickers are using a deceptive strategy. They first secure valid legal visas for citizens traveling to Azerbaijan. Once the individuals land safely in Baku, smugglers move them across porous borders. From there, they attempt to enter various European countries through dangerous, unauthorized pathways.
Surging Travel Figures Highlight Evolving Transit Strategy
The intelligence report provides a comprehensive statistical breakdown of Pakistani travel patterns to Azerbaijan over the past three years. Consequently, the data clearly signals that the destination has transformed into a high-risk transit hub.
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Three-Year Overview: An astonishing 166,034 Pakistani nationals traveled to Azerbaijan over this period. Crucially, a significant percentage of these travelers systematically failed to return home.
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2024 Patterns: Out of 44,943 Pakistanis who boarded flights to Azerbaijan, exactly 2,676 individuals vanished from official tracking records.
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2025 Statistics: Total departures rose slightly to 47,491 passengers. Meanwhile, 2,495 individuals stayed abroad illegally.
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2026 Acceleration: During just the first five months of this year, 14,200 Pakistanis departed for the country. Alarmingly, 2,550 of them had already overstayed or moved along the Dunki route by the time investigators compiled the data.
Global Recognition and Stricter Airport Crackdowns
Despite these newly emerging routes, Pakistan’s broader border enforcement has earned significant praise on the international stage. Last year, the European Union officially commended Pakistan’s efforts to curb illegal migration. The EU noted an impressive 47% reduction in irregular transit attempts by Pakistani nationals. European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, personally conveyed this appreciation during a high-profile meeting with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in Brussels.
Furthermore, Minister Naqvi reaffirmed that law enforcement remains deeply committed to a zero-tolerance policy against human trafficking. To achieve this, Pakistani authorities successfully arrested 1,770 human smugglers and their localized facilitators over the past year.
Additionally, the FIA has significantly stepped up its physical vigilance at major national exit points. The agency revealed that border control officials have offloaded more than 66,000 suspicious passengers at local airports so far this year. Moving forward, Pakistan and the European Union have formally agreed to share real-time intelligence. They will also deploy coordinated border strategies to permanently dismantle these human smuggling and drug trafficking networks.
