Pakistani Nationals Embedded in Human Smuggling Networks Across Europe: Report

Greek authorities have started scrutiny of the database of Pakistani nationals who have come to the country on work visas in the past two years after police in March arrested five Pakistani nationals for operating a network of work visas of fake firms and fake government papers, the report in European Times said.

"In March 2026, Greek police in Crete dismantled a criminal network with a clear hierarchical structure. At its core were five individuals from Crete, but a second tier consisted of seven Pakistani nationals operating overseas who targeted vulnerable individuals in Pakistan, promising legal employment and residence permits in Greece. Prospective workers were induced to pay large sums to travel to Greece, thereby accruing debt to the network. A total of 21 people were arrested, including five of whom were from Pakistan," it said.

"This was not an isolated case. In July 2025, Europol supported Greek, German, and US law enforcement in dismantling an Athens-based migrant smuggling network whose members consisted mostly of Pakistani, Iranian, and Turkish nationals. The pattern is consistent: Pakistani nationals, in collusion with local actors, are embedded in the operational infrastructure of human smuggling and document fraud networks across Southern and Central Europe," it added.

According to Frontex data, Pakistan has been ranked at the fifth spot among the nations with the highest number of illegal migrants in Europe. In 2024, Pakistani nationals made nearly 5,000 attempts to enter Europe illegally. According to Eurostat, approximately 2.2 million Pakistani nationals are in Europe, of whom only around 398,000 possess legal residence.

The largest diaspora of Pakistani nationals outside the UK is in Italy, with around 200,000 migrants of Pakistani origin, followed by Germany with 140,000 people and an estimated 60,000 in Greece. The human cost of migration has been severe, with the deaths of at least 83 Pakistani nationals in Mediterranean crossing accidents in 2025 alone.

"Pakistan is one of Europe's most significant sources of irregular migration, its nationals are involved in transnational criminal networks across the continent, and the European Union (EU) recently adopted the most far-reaching overhaul of its return and repatriation architecture in nearly two decades. Islamabad's charm offensive is a reactive exercise in damage control - an attempt to reframe a deep structural failure as a manageable policy conversation," the European Times said.

During the Warsaw conference, Interior Ministers from Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Lithuania, and Pakistan discussed ways to curb illegal immigration networks and discussed plans to dismantle cross-border human trafficking operations. The nations agreed to explore providing employment opportunities to Pakistani workers in a legal manner.

"Poland's presence at the table is telling as it has passed legislation suspending the right of migrants crossing its Belarusian border to apply for asylum - a measure driven partly by a documented surge in Pakistani nationals using the Belarus route as a backdoor into the EU. Polish officials have been explicit that illegal crossings by Pakistani nationals through the Belarusian border have increased significantly in recent years," the report said.

European nations are pursuing legal ways to combat illegal migration, believing that regularised channels will reduce irregular flows, as per the report.

However, it is not that simple as irregular channels have continued in nations, where legal migration corridors have been opened without robust implementation. Considering Pakistan's entrenched smuggling networks and the profits involved, there is little evidence that a few thousand work visas will stop the 'illegal' industry.

- IANS