Govt to create ‘Border Management Authority’ out of FIA

KARACHI: The Federal Government is planning on creating a Border Management Authority by carving out and merging certain departments of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Interior Ministry. The move is aimed at better regulating the borders and stopping human smuggling, well-placed sources told Hum News English.

Under the new arrangement – the office of Directorate General Passports and Immigration, Bureau of Emigration & Overseas Employment, and the Immigration Wing of the FIA will be merged into the Border Management Authority, sources added.

Work on the new authority is being actively carried out after the recent uptick in the incidents of drownings of illegal migrants off the European coasts, in which a sizable number of Pakistanis seeking better prospects abroad lost their lives.

The European Union (EU) is also urging the Pakistani government to improve its efforts to curb illegal migration. Lately, the EU has also been under criticism by the rights groups over its increasingly strict security measures in handling unwanted arrivals – an approach that has led to human rights violations but failed to stem the migratory tide.

Pakistan’s Premier civilian investigation agency, FIA, which is overburdened and under-resourced, is also being restructured and downsized by the federal government.

Instead of focusing on its original mandate of hardcore criminal investigation, the FIA has been increasingly used as a tool to pressure social media activists under the guise of enforcing the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).

Recently, the government has also established the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), with Waqaruddin Syed, a grade-20 from PSP, appointed as the first Director General of the agency.

Similarly, another body called Anti Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) is also working independently – a mandate that previously fell under the FIA’s jurisdiction.

Ultimately, the FIA will be restored as an investigation agency for crime and corruption. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is also transferring its cases to the FIA after recent amendments to its ordinance.

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