Pakistan: Illegal immigration to and illegal emigration from Pakistan; role of fraudulent documents, including passports and National Identity Cards (NICs), police- and court-issued documents; and government measures to combat the use and procurement of fraudulent documents (February 1997-May 2000)

For the purposes of this Extended Response to Information Request, "fraudulent documents" includes (1) authentic documents that have been fraudulently obtained (e.g., authentic blank passports that were stolen and then had photographs and personal information added), or altered (e.g., photograph substitution/superimposition, altered information), and (2) counterfeit documents (imitations of authentic documents).

The majority of information that follows is based on a series of investigative reports conducted by the English-language Karachi-based daily newspaper the Dawn. Numerous attempts to reach oral sources inside and outside Pakistan were unsuccessful within the time constraints of this Extended Response.

Illegal Immigration to Pakistan

In mid-1999 sources in the police and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) dealing with illegal immigrants stated to Dawn investigative journalist Arman Sabir that a "mafia" had been operating in Pakistan for several years, smuggling Pakistani passports out of the country, especially to Bangladesh, so that foreign nationals bearing them could enter Pakistan illegally (Dawn 1 June 1999). FIA immigration sources stated that the operation was discovered following the detection in 1998 of a fake stamp in a number of passports at the Jinnah Terminal of Karachi airport. As a result, 219 would-be illegal immigrants were deported that year and an official inquiry was ordered (ibid.). No information could be found among the sources consulted on whether or not the official inquiry was held or on its outcome. According to police sources speaking with Sabir, the mafia's modus operandi involved obtaining a National Identity Card (NIC) and a passport in the potential entrant's name, getting the exit stamp placed on the passport, then sending the passport to the individual who, with the assistance of agents, was able to enter Pakistan as a Pakistani national (ibid.). To combat this scheme, FIA officials at Karachi airport's Jinnah Terminal question individuals who land bearing passports with the "fake" exit stamp about certain locations in Karachi, and if they are unable to describe them, they are deported. FIA immigration sources explained to Dawn that they are unable to seize a passport, as it is a travel document; if seized, the bearer would also have to be detained. Instead the bearer is returned to the country from which she or he travelled (ibid.).

Police sources dealing with illegal immigrants told Dawn investigative journalist Arman Sabir that the department concerned with illegal immigrants was "only authorized to arrest them and challan them in court" (Dawn 1 June 1999). Only 592 illegal immigrants of the 1,217 such cases challaned since January 1994 have been deported (ibid.). However, only those illegal immigrants who have proof of nationality of a particular country or are acknowledged as nationals by an originating country can be deported (ibid.). According to these police sources, the principal obstacle preventing the deportation of these illegal immigrants is when they destroy their documents (to escape deportation), or when the originating country does not recognize them as its citizens (ibid.).

Another route for illegal immigration to Pakistan is through the Muslim-dominated town of Kairana, in the Muzzafarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, India, which has reportedly won the "notorious status of being a haven for smuggled weapons, fake currency notes, drugs and espionage" (The Tribune 12 Jan. 2000). Kairana is known as "Mini Pakistan" in local jargon because of the availability of all kinds of Pakistani manufactured products made possible through a smuggling racket, combined with the "unusually swift availability of a passport and visa" (ibid.). The passport, costing Rs1,500 (CAN$42.54), is in someone else's name and the original photo is substituted for that of the new bearer. The information from the original visa, also in someone else's name, is erased with a chemical fluid and the information of the new bearer is then added (ibid.).

Gangs, travel agencies, and agents are heavily involved in the lucrative business of sending people abroad with fraudulent documentation[3] (Business Recorder 3 Oct. 1999; The News International 12 Dec. 1999; Dawn 4 Feb. 2000; NNI 25 Mar. 2000).

In 1997 several blank official passports from the SL series, designated for government officials, were stolen from a Karachi passport office (Dawn 17 Mar. 1998). In March 1998 FIA Immigration at Karachi's International airport arrested five incoming Pakistanis who had been deported from Italy for travelling on false official passports. The five Pakistanis had each paid an agent Rs300,000 (CAN $8,510) for the official passports (ibid.).

In mid-November 1998 the Peshawar police raided a travel agency called RK Travel Agency in Ramdas Bazaar, arrested its owner, and seized 78 false passports, dozens of forged driving licences, NICs, and passport-size photographs of women (The News International 19 Nov. 1998).

By October 1999 the then-Interior Minister Chaudhury Shujaat Hussain had instructed the FIA to launch a country-wide crack-down on fake recruiting agencies, following which the FIA ordered all of its field offices in all major cities to do so (Business Recorder 3 Oct. 1999; The News International 12 Dec. 1999; Dawn 4 Feb. 2000). On 3 February 2000, the FIA Passport Office in Rawalpindi (Punjab) raided a fake recruiting agency called "Al-Mazan" in Blue Area, Islamabad, arrested three of its directors and recovered 80 passports, fake visa documents, stamps, medical certificates and "forms of protector office" (Dawn 4 Feb. 2000).

In a late March 2000 raid, the FIA Passport Cell in Islamabad arrested four individuals and a gang leader, Khalid Mahmood of Jhelum City (Punjab), and seized fake passports, fake residential cards, fake certificates from the Rawalpindi Education Board, fake immigration stamps, as well as visa stickers of Pakistan, Canada, the UK, France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal and Germany, and other false documentation (NNI 25 Mar. 2000).

A passport official interviewed by Dawn stated that "without the help of the immigration people the stolen passports [are] like waste paper," adding that these stolen passports are used primarily by agents who send illegal immigrants to the US and European countries, as well as by militants fighting in Afghanistan (13 May 1999).

Large- and Small-Scale Corruption

The World Bank defines corruption as "the abuse of public office for private gain" (World Bank Sept. 1997). Acts of corruption fall into either "grand or wholesale corruption" or "petty or retail corruption" (TI 1-2 June 1998; World Bank Sept. 1997). "Grand corruption occurs when a person in a high position who formulates government policy or who is able to influence government decision-making seeks, as a quid pro quo, payment […] for exercising the extensive arbitrary powers vested in him or her" (TI 1-2 June 1998). This type of corruption is often associated with international business transactions and involves politicians as well as bureaucrats (World Bank Sept. 1997; DWS 28 July 1997). "Petty corruption occurs when a public official demands, or expects, 'speed money' or 'grease payments' for doing an act which he or she is ordinarily required by law to do, or when a bribe is paid to obtain service which the official is prohibited from providing" (TI 1-2 June 1998). This type of corruption affects people all across the country on a daily basis and involves the "widespread corrupt practices that citizens encounter when they try to access many essential services provided by the government" (DWS 28 July 1997). According to the Berlin-based Transparency International (TI), an individual who offers a bribe to an official as "speed money" or "grease payments" is then treated preferentially, whether in obtaining an official document, in the process of an application for a driver's licence or a market stall, or in securing power or water service. This distinction leads to discrimination between those who are able to pay the bribe and those who are not (TI 1-2 June 1998).

Shahid Kardar, writing on corruption in Pakistan in the Dawn in mid-July 1997, stated that

few would disagree with the contention that nepotism, extortion and bribery have become a way of life, and not just with politicians–except that in their case it is exhibited more shamelessly. Corruption has become systematic. It has become institutionalised at all levels in such a way that it has become an integral part of the administrative, social and political culture (DWS 12 July 1997).  

In mid-November 1999 President Rafiq Tarar promulgated the National Accountability Bureau (Amendment) Ordinance 1999, which "seeks swift justice and carries harsh penalties," in the fight against official corruption (International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 1999 Mar. 2000, iii; The News 18 Nov. 1999; Country Reports 1999 25 Feb. 2000, Ie). A "large number of bureaucrats, found to be corrupt or inefficient, are to be placed under suspension anytime after July 31, reliable sources told Dawn," according to a 26 June 2000 Dawn report. Special accountability courts have also been established to deal with corruption cases (AFP 25 Apr. 2000). The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the accountability courts have arrested, charged, and punished accused individuals (Dawn 23 June 2000). Punishments include prison sentences and fines (AFP 25 Apr. 2000). However, concerns have been raised about this ordinance and the drive against corruption because of "various complications in gathering evidence" (The Tribune 4 Feb. 2000).

Illegal immigration to and emigration from Pakistan, and fraudulent document procurement, production and alteration are facilitated by corruption, as can be seen by the examples that follow.

Stolen Blank Passports (authentic documents fraudulently obtained)

In May 1999 Dawn reported that huge numbers of blank Pakistani passports have been stolen from passport offices across the country since at least 1993 (13 May 1999). Almost 5,000 blank passports were stolen in total in 1993 from the Gujrat (Punjab) and Kohat (NWFP) offices; 2,000 from the Multan (Punjab) and Abbottabad (NWFP) offices in 1994; approximately 2,700 from the Abbottabad, Islamabad, and Bahawalpur (Punjab) offices in 1996; and almost 1,500 from the Bahawalpur, the Dera Ismail Khan (NWFP) and the Khuzdar (Baluchistan) regional passport offices, as well as the Diamir Deputy Commissioner's office in 1997 (ibid.). On 5 July 1998 Karachi's Nazimabad passport office was robbed and 656 blank passports were stolen, as well as 1,628 endorsement stickers, seals and other material used in passport production (DPA 7 July 1998; Dawn 13 May 1999). Although two suspects in the Nazimabad hold-up were arrested, and approximately 200 blank passports recovered, law-enforcement agencies were reportedly unable to identify and arrest their accomplices (ibid.).

In April 1999 hundreds of blank passports were stolen from the Muzaffarabad (AJK) and Azad Kashmir passport offices (Dawn 13 May 1999), and in an 18 April 1999 hit on the Dera Ismail Khan office, three armed men stole almost 2,000 passports with the serial Nos. G-374041 to G-376000, as well as 34 with the serial Nos. G- 373976 to G-374009 (ibid. 20 Apr. 1999).

More recently, in mid-March 2000, six armed gunmen stole 1,200 blank passports, stickers, embossing, and two lamination machines from the Sialkot (Punjab) passport office, none of which had been recovered or replaced by the end of that month (Dawn 30 Mar. 2000).

In three separate thefts outside Pakistan, a total of almost 600 passports were stolen from Pakistani missions in Birmingham and Bradford, UK, and Prague between 1994 and 1996 (Dawn 13 May 1999). In a later incident, on 17 August 1998, a man carrying false identification collected 500 blank Pakistani passports in a diplomatic pouch from the cargo centre of Manchester Airport, UK (AP 26 Aug. 1998). The crime was discovered two days later when a diplomat from the Pakistani consulate in Manchester arrived to collect the diplomatic pouch (ibid.).

Following each passport theft, the central passport office informs all concerned national and international agencies of the serial numbers of the stolen blank passports (Dawn 13 May 1999). The serial numbers are also stored in the Repak system of the national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), to alert officials when bearers of these fraudulently obtained passports appear for ticketing (ibid.). However, according to a 13 May 1999 Dawn report, immigration officials had not reportedly intercepted any of the stolen passports at any of Pakistan's borders or airports, nor had Pakistan's security agencies been able to establish the identities of those responsible for the passport thefts, although it was suspected that the criminals were part of a well-organized gang with highly placed contacts and international connections. Additional and/or corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Extended Response.

"Man-Changed" Passports (authentic documents fraudulently obtained)

In January 1998 the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) became aware of a "novel method of human smuggling from Bangladesh" when they discovered that seven passengers from Dhaka who landed at Karachi airport bore little resemblance to the photos in the Pakistani passports they were carrying (DWS 30 Jan. 1998). On closer inspection it was also discovered that an eighth passenger held a forged passport, of which the second page had been replaced (ibid.). During FIA interrogation, these Bangladeshis, suspected to be intended illegal immigrants, admitted they were travelling on passports that were not their own and revealed that they had obtained Pakistani passports and NICs through an agent in Dhaka (ibid.). Human smugglers reportedly began using this modus operandi, known as "man-changed" passports, after Karachi immigration staff, following "strict directives" from the FIA chief, became more vigilant and made it "practically impossible" for illegal immigrants to enter the country on forged or fake Pakistani passports (ibid.). Now smugglers reportedly arrange to provide clients with passports whose photos resemble the bearers (ibid.). Additional and/or corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Extended Response.

Altered Passports (authentic altered)

In late April 1999 the FIA arrested two clerks from KarachiSaddar Passport Office and remanded them into custody for their alleged participation in issuing fake passports to aliens (Dawn 24 Apr. 1999). During the investigation of that passport office, the FIA found approximately 10 Pakistani passports and 31 NICs in the office of one of the clerks (ibid.).

In mid-June 1999, following the arrests and the subsequent investigation of the Saddar and Nazimabad passport offices in Karachi, approximately 850 "fake" Pakistani passports issued to aliens, primarily Bangladeshis, were to be cancelled and a list of the serial numbers was to be circulated to the affected departments and to missions abroad (ibid.). Information as to whether or not the list of serial numbers was circulated and the passports cancelled could not be found within the time constraints of this Extended Response. Reportedly, the Saddar and the Nazimabad passport offices had issued these fake passports between May and December 1998 (ibid.). The FIA's Passport Cell investigated several passport officials and eventually "booked" Nasir Sherwani, Superintendent of the Nazimabad passport office, and Syed Israr Ali Chishti, an examiner of the Saddar passport office, in separate cases for issuing passports to aliens on forged and tampered-with documents (ibid. 15 June 1999; The News International 30 Jan. 2000). FIA officials arrested Sherwani on 7 June 1999, while Chishti absconded (Dawn 15 June 1999). Sources speaking to Dawn stated that FIA investigators believed that more than 2,000 passports had been issued to aliens for "huge bribes" every month with the "connivance" of the officials at the Saddar and Nizamabad passport offices (ibid.; ibid. 12 May 1999).

The modus operandi of this particular "racket" involved the alteration of authentic passports (ibid. 15 June 1999). A photocopy of a pre-1978 issued passport was attached to an applicant's declaration form, thus exempting him/her from a police verification (ibid.). The information in the photocopy of the old passport was changed to match the particulars of the applicant (ibid.). During the investigation of the Saddar clerks, FIA investigators

detected tampered photocopies of some 30 old passports, on the basis of which the Nazimabad passport office [had] issued as many as 259 passports to aliens. Forged photocopies of one old passport was used several times and in some cases even several photocopies of [the same] passport were accepted by the [same] office in one day (ibid. 12 May 1999).

In October 1997 Dr. Imtiaz Hussain was arrested for sending at least 12 people abroad on fraudulent passports for medical treatment (Dawn 1 Oct. 1997). Operating from his clinic in Gali Mana Gujjar, Nawshera (NWFP), Dr. Hussain arranged genuine visas for patients wanting treatment in Seoul and sent "fake" attendants with them, charging each client between Rs200,000 and Rs.250,000 (CAN$5,673-$7,092) (ibid.). His partner, Naveed of Wahdat Colony, Gujranwala, provided the passports in which the original photographs were then substituted ("photo substitution") with those of the fake attendants (ibid.).Additional and/or corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Extended Response.

Police Verification for Passport Issuance

Dawn journalist Arman Sabir who investigated Karachi passport offices in late 1999, concluded that

the procedure of police inquiry is only an eye-wash and does not play any vital role in verifying the applicant for the passport.

According to the usual procedure, the passport department sends particulars of an applicant to the relevant chief of the district police who passes it on to the police station where the applicant resides.

The police, however, do not adopt a proper procedure to inquire about the applicant. They demand two copies of the national identity cards of the neighbours of the applicant, but they verify the particulars by allegedly taking illegal gratification which varies between Rs500 and Rs1,000 [CAN$14.20-$28.40] and the process takes a month or more.

After the police inquiry is conducted, the passport is not issued within the specified period and the applicant is forced to go to the agent … sitting outside the passport office …[who] under the guise of assisting people in filling in their [passport application] forms, play[s] a role of a bridge between the applicants and the officials of the passport department as the officials decline to take illegal gratification directly (5 Dec. 1999b).

In early December 1999 Dawn reported that "the issuance of passports with the connivance of passport office personnel and touts ["agents"] [had] become a predicament for intelligence agencies as there exists evidence that anyone could get a passport without meeting the criterion for the issuance of a passport" (5 Dec. 1999a).

Nevertheless, a 22 December 1999 Dawn article reported that

to ensure expeditious issuance of passport[s] to the public, the government has decided not to refer cases to the police of the verification of national status of applicants.

A press release said on Tuesday that passport[s] would henceforth be issued to Pakistani citizens on the basis of [a] duly verified NIC and interview of applicants by the Passport-Issuing authority (22 Dec. 1999).

In a subsequent Dawn article, it was noted that if there was any doubt about the applicant, the passport officer, citing reasons of suspicion, could refer the applicant's case to the "Special Branch of Police" for verification (28 Apr. 2000). Passports are routinely issued after seven days; those needed on an urgent basis are issued the following day (ibid.).

Passports/NICs Obtained Through Bribery (authentic documents fraudulently obtained)

In early July 1997 the FIA Passport and Immigration Cell at Karachi airport removed from an Azerbaijan-bound flight 14 non-Pakistanis bearing Pakistani passports and NICs (The News International 11 July 1997). Based on information obtained during their interrogations, the FIA conducted raids and arrested Tariq Mehmood, assistant director of Saddar Passport Office, Muhammad Aslam, assistant director of the Directorate of Registration, and Mazhar Hussain Jafferi, deputy registration officer central, for issuing passports and NICs to non-Pakistanis following the payment of "huge bribes" (ibid.). Follow-up information on this incident was not available in the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

An early 2000 inquiry by the Vehari (Punjab) District Registrar revealed that a "corruption mafia" operating in the Multan region Registration Office had issued more than 1,000 NICs to Afghan nationals for between Rs2,000 and Rs4,000 (CAN $56.75-$113.45) each (Dawn 7 Feb. 2000). Although individuals had complained to the Ministry of the Interior in the past, corrupt employees in the head office had allegedly destroyed or shelved these complaints, and consequently no action had been taken against them (ibid.). A clerk of a senior official of that office reportedly headed the gang, with the alleged "connivance" of a deputy director of that same office (ibid.).

On 9 February 2000 the FIA and an army monitoring team jointly raided the District Registration Office, Muzaffargarh, following complaints of extortion to issue NICs (Dawn 10 Feb. 2000). Although Ghulam Muhammad Nasir, a clerk, was caught accepting a bribe, was sent to jail on judicial remand and then suspended from work, he denied the charges against him (ibid.).

NIC Issuance and the Black Market

The NIC is a prerequisite for a passport and other benefits and services and therefore every Pakistani who reaches the age of 18 is required to obtain one (NNI 8 May 2000; Pakistan News 8 Dec. 1994; High Commission for Pakistan 13 Sept. 1999). Pakistani missions abroad do not have the authority to issue NICs and, therefore, applications are sent to the Interior Ministry Division in Islamabad and take about three months to process (NNI 8 May 2000; Pakistan News 8 Dec. 1994).

In April 1999 Dawn reported that although application forms for NICs could not be found in any major post office in Karachi, they were being sold for almost ten times the normal price on the black market outside the post offices (23 Apr. 1999). Normally costing Rs3 (CAN $0.08) in the post office, the forms were selling for between Rs20 and Rs25 (CAN $0.56-0.70) outside the City Post Office (Boulton Market), Orangi Post Office, Al Hyderi Post Office and the Saddar Post Office, as well as in front of the ID card offices in Baloch Colony, Tariq Road, Nazimabad and Malir (ibid.; ibid. 8 May 1999).

In autumn 1999 Dawn journalist Arman Sabir investigated the issuance of NICs in various districts of Karachi and learned that the lack of cooperation of NIC department officials and the manual maintenance of NIC records aggravate the problems of NIC applicants (Dawn 22 Nov. 1999). Citizens who had lost their NICs and needed a replacement, or those who wished to have their children's names listed on the "B" form, suffered the most as it was impossible to locate files: bundles of old NIC files were piled in the record rooms of all NIC offices or are missing (ibid.). A person listed in his or her parents' "B" form can obtain an NIC without the necessary police inquiry, upon which the issuance of NICs primarily depends (ibid. 28 Oct. 1999).

Once an NIC application is submitted, the NIC office sends it to the area police where the applicant resides (ibid. 22 Nov. 1999). The police then make inquiries regarding the applicant and if they approve the application, the NIC department issues the NIC within a month or so (ibid.). Even an individual whose parents have died and who does not have any particulars about his or her education can obtain an NIC after going through such a police inquiry (ibid. 28 Oct. 1999). However, according to Dawn, if one of the agents sitting outside the NIC office is given "extra money," the NIC can be obtained within a day or two. These agents are alleged to have connections with the NIC officials (22 Nov. 1999).

Following his investigations of the Karachi NIC department, Dawn journalist Arman Sabir concluded that the department has no means ("yardstick") to check whether an applicant was an illegal immigrant before issuing him or her an NIC (28 Oct. 1999). After a police verification has been conducted, district registrars have no authority to refuse an NIC to individuals they suspect are illegal immigrants (ibid.). Although they can register a complaint against such individuals, in most cases district registrars are reluctant to do so as complainants do not appear in court and are still able to obtain their NICs from another district office (ibid.).

However, corruption in the NIC department is not limited to Karachi. On 30 April 2000 Dawn reported that a number of officials within the Registration Department in Islamabad are reportedly involved in the "theft and misplacement" of NICs. NADRA (The National Database and Registration Authority) has sought the "particulars" of these department officials involved in corrupt practices between 1997 and 1999 and has asked the department to provide details concerning the missing NICs (ibid.). On 5 May 2000 Dawn reported that in Vehari (Punjab), documents are left unsecured and "scattered all over the place in the record room" of the Registration Office, making it possible for anyone to tamper with them. Furthermore, applicants are requested to make several trips to the office to provide additional information/documentation, although many applicants allege that anyone can obtain an NIC within a week if she or he paid between Rs300 and Rs600 (CAN$8.50-CAN$17) to "corrupt staffers" (ibid.).

Government Attempts to Eliminate Fraudulent Documentation

In a 16 February 1998 press conference, Chief Census Commissioner Javed Akram acknowledged the lack of a mechanism to trace holders of fake identity cards or passports (Dawn 17 Feb. 1998). The apparent ease in obtaining fraudulent identity documents can be appreciated upon learning that the majority of the estimated three million aliens living in Karachi allegedly possess Pakistani NICs and passports (ibid.). In March 1999 the then-Federal Minister of the Interior, Chaudhury Shujaat Hussain, announced that the federal government, through the March 1998-established National Database Organisation (NDO), was introducing a new registration system which would computerize NICs, passports and residency cards for Overseas Pakistanis, thereby eliminating "bogus" NICs and other false documentation (PPI 19 Mar. 1999; Dawn 9 Dec. 1999; The News International 8 Feb. 2000). The tamper-proof computerized NICs with 15 security features would bear the same numbers as the old NICs and would be issued only after ensuring, with the assistance of the army (Dawn 6 Oct. 1999), the credibility of the data (PPI 19 Mar. 1999; Dawn 31 Mar. 2000; ibid. 9 Dec. 1999). Both old and new NICs would continue to be used side-by-side until a major section of the population had received the computerized NICs, at which point the NDO would issue orders to invalidate them (ibid.; ibid. 6 Oct. 1999).

On 16 February 2000 Cabinet approved the creation of the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) out of a merger between the NDO and the Directorate General of Registration (Dawn 12 Mar. 2000), and on 10 March 2000 President Tarar promulgated the National Database & Registration Ordinance (NNI 11 Mar. 2000). NADRA launched its operation on 13 March 2000 (Dawn 12 Mar. 2000). The issuance of new computerized ID cards will begin in either June or September 2000 and should be completed by December 2001, at which point all existing NICs will become invalid (ibid. 11 Apr. 2000; ibid. 13 Apr. 2000; ibid. 17 May 2000). The computerized NICs will be made in one building in Islamabad, have the Quaid-e-Azam's photo and national flag printed on them, will be issued by NADRA within 28 days of receipt of application, and will be couriered to people's doorsteps, at which point their existing NICs will be considered cancelled (ibid.; The News International 8 Feb. 2000). In April 2000 the Federal Minister of the Interior Lt.-Gen. (Retd.) Moinuddin Haider announced that, beginning in 2001, new machine-readable computerized passports will be issued, based on the new database that will meet the ISO and UN Standards of Travel Documents (Business Recorder 22 Mar. 2000; Dawn 13 Apr. 2000).

Falsified Court-Issued Documents

In mid-July 1998 the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court issued a directive to the High Court, the Secretary of the Punjab Public Service Commission, all Punjab department heads and all high government officials in Punjab instructing "strict compliance of precautionary steps to check the use of forged and fabricated judgements and court orders for illegal benefits, by producing these judgements or orders in different departments" (Business Recorder 1 July 1998). Further information on falsified court-issued documents was not available in the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Extended Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Extended Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Associated Press Worldstream (AP). 26 August 1998. "Pakistani Passports Stolen, Police Say." (NEXIS)

Agence France Presse (AFP). 25 April 2000. "Rights Group's National Conference Calls for Democracy in Pakistan." (NEXIS)

Bloomberg Currency Calculator. 2 June 2000. [Accessed 2 June 2000]

Business Recorder [Lahore/Karachi]. 22 March 2000. "Special Cards to be Issued to Overseas Pakistanis From April: Interior Minister." [Accessed 28 Mar. 2000]

_____. 3 October 1999. "FIA Told to Probe Wrongdoing of Travel Agencies." [Accessed 25 Apr. 2000]

_____. 1 July 1998. "Lahore High Court Chief Justice Warns Against Use of Forged Verdicts, Court Orders." [Accessed 20 Jan. 2000]

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999. 25 February 2000. United States Department of State. [Accessed 2 June 2000]

Dawn [Karachi]. 26 June 2000. Ansar Abbasi. "Chief Executive Seeks List of 'Corrupt' Bureaucrats." [Accessed 27 June 2000]

_____. 23 June 2000. "120 Held by NAP for Corruption till 22^nd." [Accessed 23 June 2000]

_____. 17 May 2000. "New ID Cards From September." [Accessed 23 May 2000]

_____. 5 May 2000. "Vehari: Corruption Makes it Difficult to Get NICs." [Accessed 5 May 2000]

_____. 30 April 2000. "Details of Lost NICs Sought." [Accessed 1 May 2000]

____. 28 April 2000. "Passport Procedure Simplified." [Accessed 1 May 2000]

_____. 13 April 2000. "New Computerized ID Cards From June." [Accessed 13 Apr. 2000]

_____. 11 April 2000. "New NICs From Sept, Says CE." [Accessed 11 Apr. 2000]

_____. 31 March 2000. "Pakistan Origin Card to be Launched in US, UK." [Accessed 3 Apr. 2000]

_____. 30 March 2000. "Sialkot: No Replacement of Passport Office Stolen Machines." [Accessed 30 Mar. 2000]

_____. 12 March 2000. "New Database Body Begins Operation Tomorrow." [Accessed 13 Mar. 2000]

_____. 10 February 2000. "Multan: Registration Office Raided." [Accessed 10 Feb. 2000]

_____. 7 February 2000. "Inquiry Reveals Afghans Got 1,000 NICs After Bribing Multan RO." [Accessed 7 Feb. 2000]

_____. 4 February 2000. "Recruitment Agency Raided, 3 Directors Held." [Accessed 7 Feb. 2000]

_____. 22 December 1999. "No Police Verification For Passport." [Accessed 22 Dec. 1999]

_____. 9 December 1999. "Tamper-Proof ID Cards to be Introduced Soon." [Accessed 10 Dec. 1999]

_____. 5 December 1999a. "Karachi: FIA, CPLC to Get Role in Passport Office Affairs." [Accessed 6 Dec. 1999]

_____. 5 December 1999b. Arman Sabir. "People Face Difficulties in Getting Passports." [Accessed 6 Dec. 1999]

_____. 22 November 1999. Arman Sabir. "Karachi: People Seeking NIC Through Legal Way Face Hardships." [Accessed 22 Nov. 1999]

_____. 28 October 1999. Arman Sabir. "No Yardstick To Check Illegal Immigrants." [Accessed 29 Oct. 1999]

_____. 6 October 1999. "Islamabad: New ID Cards from Next Year." [Accessed 7 Oct. 1999]

_____. 15 June 1999. Tahir Siddiqui. "850 Fake Passports Issued to Aliens Being Cancelled." [Accessed 15 June 1999]

_____. 1 June 1999. Arman Sabir. "Illegal Aliens Using Pakistani Passports to Enter Country." [Accessed 1 June 1999]

_____. 13 May 1999. Nadeem Saeed. "Multan: Passport-Stealing Gang Remains Untraced." [Accessed 13 May 1999]

_____. 12 May 1999. "259 Fake Passports Issued." [Accessed 12 May 1999]

_____. 8 May 1999. "Shifting of NIC Offices Causing Hardships." [Accessed 11 May 1999]

_____. 24 April 1999. "Karachi: Two Held by FIA For Issuing Fake Passports." [Accessed 26 Apr. 1999]

_____. 23 April 1999. "Karachi: ID Card Forms Being Sold in Black Market." [Accessed 23 Apr. 1999]

_____. 20 April 1999. "Dera Ismail Khan: About 2,000 Passports Stolen." [Accessed 20 Apr. 1999]

_____. 17 March 1998. Tahir Siddiqui. "Fake Official Passport-Holders Deported From Italy, Arrested." [Accessed 17 Mar. 1998]

_____. 17 February 1998. "Census to Cover Aliens Bearing ID Cards." [Accessed 17 Feb. 1998]

_____. 1 October 1997. "Karachi: Doctor Arrested for Exporting Manpower on Forged Papers." [Accessed 1 Oct. 1997]

Dawn Weekly Service (DWS) [Karachi]. 30 January 1998. Tahir Siddiqui. "Pakistani Passports 'On Sale' in BD." [Accessed 13 Apr. 2000]

_____. 28 July 1997. R.M.U. Suleman. "Accountability Only Touching the Tip of the Iceberg." [Accessed 2 June 2000]

_____. 12 July 1997. Shahid Kardar. "Confronting Corruption." [Accessed 11 Apr. 2000]

Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). 7 July 1998. BC Cycle. "Pakistani Airport Authorities Alerted as Blank Passports Stolen." (NEXIS)

High Commission for Pakistan, Ottawa. 13 September 1999. "Consular Services Guidelines Effective 13 September 1999."

House of Representatives. Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims. Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, DC. 20 May 1997. "Visa Fraud and Immigration Benefits Application Fraud." [Accessed 12 Apr. 2000]

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). February 1998. State of Human Rights in Pakistan in 1997. Lahore: HRCP.

International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 1999. March 2000. United States Department of State. [Accessed 8 May 2000]

The News [Karachi]. 18 November 1999. "National Accountability Bureau (Amendment) Ordinance1999." [Accessed 5 June 2000]

The News International [Karachi]. 8 February 2000. Muhammad Ejaz Khan. "Issuance of Computerised NICs From This Year: Moin." [Accessed 13 Apr. 2000]

_____. 30 January 2000. "Case Registered Against Trafficker." [Accessed 8 Apr. 2000]

_____. 12 December 1999. "FIA to Launch Crackdown on Fake Agents." [Accessed 25 Apr. 2000]

_____. 19 November 1998. "Fake Passports, ID Cards Seized." [Accessed 19 Nov. 1998]

_____. 11 July 1997. "Three Officials Arrested for Issuing Fake Passports, NICs." [Accessed 11 July 1997]

News Network International (NNI). 8 May 2000. "NICs to Expatriates on Priority Basis." [Accessed 8 May 2000]

_____. 25 March 2000. "Fake Recruiting Agents Arrested." [Accessed 27 Mar. 2000]

_____. 11 March 2000. "National Database & Registration Authority Ordinance Promulgated." [Accessed 22 Mar. 2000]

Pakistan News. 8 December 1994. "Press Release: Issuance of Passport to Pakistan Nationals." (faxed to the Research Directorate by the High Commission for Pakistan, Ottawa)

Pakistan Press International (PPI) []. 19 March 1999. "Computerized Registration of ID Cards, Passports Soon." [Accessed 5 July 1999]

Transparency International (TI). 1-2 June 1998. Nihal Jayawickrama. "Corruption–A Violation of Human Rights?" (TI Working Paper) [Accessed 8 Apr. 2000]

The Tribune [Chandigarh]. 4 February 2000. "Syed Norruzzaman. "Window on President Discriminatory Drive." [Accessed 7 Feb. 2000]

_____. 12 January 2000. Hitender Rao. "UP Town, Now a 'Mini Pakistan': Passport for Rs1,5000, Fake Currency Through ISI." [Accessed 12 Jan. 2000]

World Bank. September 1997. "Helping Countries Combat Corruption: The Role of the World Bank." [Accessed 5 June 2000]

News Network International (NNI). 11 March 2000. "National Database & Registration Authority Ordinance Promulgated." [Accessed 22 Mar. 2000]

[1] Challan: There are two categories of the police's prosecution brief: (1) based on the First Information Report (FIR); (2) more formalized, following from early investigations (HRCP Feb. 1998, glossary).

[2] The conversion rate as of 2 June 2000 is PAK Rs.1 = CAN $0.03 (Bloomberg Currency Calculator 2 June 2000).

[3] For background information, please consult PAK23523.EX of 10 April 1996 on alien smuggling (traffic in illegal migrants) in Pakistan.