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Thousands passports lost by British Embassy Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: While the British High Commission hogs on to its claim of having lost just 150 Pakistani passports, additional evidence has come to light suggesting that the scam involves thousands of lost travel documents.
A Pakistani investigating agency is in possession of a list of 3,362 passports, which are believed to have gone missing at one time. The investigators do not preclude the possibility of some of those passports having been traced subsequently, but say they do not have any information of such recoveries.
Nevertheless, the sheer number of passports suspected to be missing reflects the enormity of the crisis. Separately, investigators are probing fresh allegations of theft of visa stickers from passports.
Categories: Diplomatic Avenue
INKISHAF.Pakistan 
British High Commission statement
A daily national newspaper published an article today (Saturday 3 April) claiming that thousands of passports have been lost by the British High Commission in Islamabad.
A British High Commission spokesperson said:
“A report suggesting that 3,362 passports may be missing is untrue.
The British High Commission has been clear, with customers and the media, that 150 missing passports have been identified. We take this issue very seriously and are undertaking detailed investigations. We have apologised to customers who have been affected and have agreed to reimburse the cost of obtaining a new passport or replacement of any valid visas.
We take the integrity of our immigration system very seriously, have investigated the lost passports and introduced additional safeguards. We have implemented new processes to provide additional protection against further losses. The missing passports have been reported to the Ministry of Interior to prevent them being used for travel.
No passports have been lost en route to or from Abu Dhabi. No passports have gone missing, as the article alleges, in the verification process at the FIA.”