By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The interior ministers of Italy, Spain and Greece joined Pakistan’s interior minister in Rome on Thursday in endorsing a joint strategy to combat illegal migration, human smuggling and narcotics trafficking that centers on creating regulated legal channels and repatriating serious criminals.
The four-nation agreement, reached at a conference in the Italian capital, reflects Islamabad’s aggressive domestic crackdown on smuggling networks and Europe’s search for ways to reduce dangerous irregular crossings of the Mediterranean. Pakistani authorities say their efforts have already produced a 47 percent drop in illegal migration from the country. “Pakistan, Italy, Spain and Greece agreed on a coordinated strategy against illegal migration, human smuggling and narcotics, including a joint policy framework and rapid-response mechanism,” Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi wrote on the social media platform X after the meeting.
A statement issued by Pakistan’s Interior Ministry said the European ministers explicitly backed Naqvi’s proposal that “promoting legal pathways” was the most effective way to dismantle smuggling networks and discourage perilous journeys. Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and Greece’s Migration Minister Athanasios Plevris agreed that “creating regulated legal channels for migration was the most effective way to dismantle the networks of human smugglers,” the statement said.
The ministers also finalized plans to repatriate from Europe to Pakistan criminals involved in “serious offences” so they can face legal proceedings at home. They committed to strengthening coordination at all levels and to establishing a joint rapid-response mechanism. The next such quadrilateral meeting will be held in Pakistan later this year, officials said.
European participants praised Pakistan’s enforcement actions. The ministry statement quoted Piantedosi as saying that “Pakistani institutions have taken excellent steps” against illegal migration. Grande-Marlaska commended the “exemplary actions taken under Naqvi’s leadership,” it added. All three European countries agreed to extend “full support” to Pakistan for capacity-building programs funded by the European Union.
Naqvi told his counterparts that Pakistan had brought “mafias involved in illegal migration” under the law and stressed that Europe remained one of the regions most affected by irregular flows. A coordinated mechanism, he said, could address the challenge effectively. The agreement comes as Pakistan has sharply intensified its anti-smuggling drive. Enforcement was stepped up in 2023 after hundreds of migrants, including many Pakistanis, drowned in the deadliest Mediterranean shipwreck in years off Pylos, Greece. Since then, Pakistani authorities have arrested more than 1,700 suspected human smugglers, tightened airport screening and deployed technology to detect forged travel documents.
Last December, Pakistan announced plans to introduce an artificial-intelligence-based immigration screening system at Islamabad’s airport. In September the Federal Investigation Agency published a list of more than 100 “most wanted” human smugglers and identified key trafficking hubs.
Naqvi also held a separate bilateral meeting with Plevris on the sidelines of the Rome conference. The two ministers agreed to finalize a Migration Cooperation Agreement and establish a joint working group to improve coordination. Greece offered support for training Pakistani police and paramilitary forces in technology-based operations, the ministry said. The four countries had gathered explicitly to address what they described as growing challenges from organized smuggling networks operating across the Mediterranean route. Pakistan’s participation marked a notable expansion of cooperation with frontline European states that have borne the brunt of irregular arrivals.
Officials from all four governments described the talks as productive. Naqvi, in his X post, called the session “productive” and highlighted the consensus on both enforcement and legal migration routes. The Rome meeting produced no immediate details on the scale or timeline of the new legal pathways or the precise workings of the rapid-response mechanism. Those elements are expected to be fleshed out in the coming months as the joint policy framework is implemented and as preparations begin for the follow-up gathering in Pakistan.
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