At Vienna forum, Pakistan urges global alliance to combat human smuggling, illegal migration

• Tallal calls for joint international strategy and technology-driven solutions to curb menace

• Terms illegal migration a global challenge requiring intelligence sharing and collective action, stressing safe, orderly and legal migration as key to curbing human smuggling

• Pakistan reports 47pc drop in illegal migration to Europe, over 1,700 smugglers arrested

 ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Interior Tallal Chaudhry has called for a coordinated global strategy and technology-driven solutions to combat illegal migration, telling an international forum in Vienna that human smuggling is a transnational challenge requiring greater international cooperation, intelligence sharing and expanded legal migration pathways, according to the Interior Ministry.

Addressing a meeting of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling, Chaudhry said illegal migration was not merely a border issue but a global challenge that demanded collective action.

According to a statement issued by the Interior Ministry, the minister stressed that modern technology, intelligence sharing and joint strategies were the only effective means of dismantling human smuggling networks.

وزیر مملکت برائے داخلہ طلال چوہدری کی "گلوبل الائنس ٹو کاؤنٹر مائیگرنٹ سمگلنگ" کے اعلیٰ سطحی اجلاس میں شرکت،
یورپی یونین کی جانب سے غیر قانونی مائیگریشن میں نمایاں کمی پر پاکستان کے مؤثر اقدامات کو سراہا گیا ہے،
آئی اے کی مؤثر کارکردگی کو سراہا pic.twitter.com/2yxPXW0WSH

— Ministry of Interior GoP (@MOIofficialGoP) July 4, 2026

He also urged the international community to expand opportunities for "safe, orderly and legal" migration, saying such measures were urgently needed to curb illegal immigration.

Chaudhry is visiting Austria to attend the meeting of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling, an international cooperation framework launched by the European Union in 2023 to coordinate efforts among countries and international organizations against migrant smuggling networks.

غیر قانونی ہجرت ایک سرحدی نہیں بلکہ عالمی چیلنج ہے، مشترکہ حکمت عملی ناگزیر ہے، طلال چوہدری

قانونی ہجرت کے مواقع بڑھانے وقت کی اہم ضرورت ہے، وزیر مملکت داخلہ

جدید ٹیکنالوجی، انٹیلی جنس شیئرنگ اور مشترکہ حکمت عملی ہی انسانی اسمگلنگ کا مؤثر حل ہے، طلال چوہدری

— Ministry of Interior GoP (@MOIofficialGoP) July 4, 2026

The ministry noted that Pakistan reported a 47 percent decline in illegal migration to Europe last year, while more than 1,700 human smugglers were arrested during an expanded nationwide crackdown.

It said Pakistan had also introduced modern technologies, including the rollout of an Artificial Intelligence-based immigration screening system in Islamabad, to detect forged travel documents and prevent illegal departures.

محفوظ، منظم اور قانونی ہجرت کے فروغ کے بغیر غیر قانونی ہجرت کا مؤثر سدباب ممکن نہیں، وزیر مملکت برائے داخلہ

— Ministry of Interior GoP (@MOIofficialGoP) July 4, 2026

The statement further noted that in June, United Kingdom Minister for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan Hamish Falconer committed an additional Rs2.9 billion (£8 million) to support joint Pakistan-UK efforts to combat illegal migration and organised crime.

The issue of illegal migration has drawn increasing attention in Pakistan in recent years following the deaths of hundreds of Pakistani nationals in boat tragedies and the arrest of Pakistani and foreign nationals attempting to travel abroad using forged documents.

Those incidents highlighted the dangers faced by migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan and other countries, many of whom undertake perilous journeys in search of better economic opportunities in Europe and other Western countries.