Islamabad, Jan 30 (IANS): The government of Pakistan has finally decided to criminalise begging following multiple complaints from foreign countries after thousands of Pakistanis abroad have been caught in illegal activities and begging resulting in a major global embarrassment and visa bans for travellers from the country.

As part of the move, Pakistan's Interior Ministry on Thursday decided to propose addition of the term "organised begging" to the Section 3 of the 'Prevention of Trafficking in Persons (Amendment) Bill 2024'.

Islamabad has received multiple complaints from foreign countries - especially members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Iraq and Malaysia - about the increasing cases of Pakistani nationals caught begging in their respective countries.

Pakistan's diplomatic missions have urged a strict action as thousands of Pakistanis who visit these countries for Haj, Umrah, and other religious pilgrimages have been found involved in begging and other criminal activities.

The proposed draft amendment bill also highlights the same issue and maintains that the matter needs to be ingested into a law.

"The agents and gangs who are involved in this practice easily dodge prosecution as begging is not a crime in any law entrusted to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The sensitivity of the issue demands an urgent need to make beggary a crime," reads the proposed draft amendment.

"The organised beggary includes an act of a person to allure, entice or coerce a person intentionally, knowingly, by use of force, fraud or without fraudulent intention to indulge or to be indulged in soliciting or receiving alms directly, indirectly or on any pretext," the bill adds.

The Pakistani government has been forced to take the issue seriously after thousands of its citizens have been caught begging in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government had called on Pakistan to not send beggars, sick people or people without skills to the country. Pakistan recently put about 4,300 beggars on the no-fly list and assured the Saudi government of strong action against the culprits.

Hundreds of Pakistani nationals have also been deported from the Gulf countries in recent times, most of them found involved in begging or other criminal activities.

On January 15, three beggars were arrested and deported from Saudi Arabia and taken into custody upon their arrival in Karachi. Another beggar was also arrested on his return from Umrah for passport forgery.

The government of Pakistan considers the matter in line with the human trafficking and human smuggling domains, directing officials at the airports to be vigilant while clearing passengers.

As per the directives, an efficient system of profiling passengers travelling from Pakistan to other countries including Azerbaijan, Senegal, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Libya, Iran, Mauritania, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait and Kyrgyzstan should be implemented with an immediate effect.

Strict scrutiny, profiling and monitoring is also being done for travellers from cities like Gujarat, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Bhimber, Jhelum, Toba Tek Singh, Hafizabad and Sheikhupura.