Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan stated that “the government has removed 65,000 more names from the no-fly lists.”
Giving details of the shakedown, Nisar told reporters in Islamabad that the exit control list (ECL) had been purged of a further 4,987 entries and it now only contained names which had been on the list for less than three years, or those who were linked to anti-state activities, terrorism, or banned outfits. Further, the list contained names of those individuals who were included in the fourth schedule or had been debarred by the superior courts.
“The ECL is not a joke. Unfortunately, people were being barred from flying abroad over petty domestic issues,” Nisar said, adding that a separate policy would be formulated for foreigners.
He added that as many as 59,604 names had been removed from the black list.
Of these, 22,491 names had been deleted from the system, 9,660 had been moved to the passport control list (PCL) and 27,452 names moved to the visa control list (VCL).
As per the new system, Nisar said a name will only be put on the ECL if recommended by defence institutions, intelligence agencies, or the superior courts. Members of proscribed organisations, drug traffickers, and enemy spies will be debarred from international travel.
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