Feb. 26, 2026 | Islamabad
Pakistan and three European countries — Italy, Spain and Greece — have agreed to adopt a coordinated strategy to combat illegal migration while expanding legal pathways for workers, Pakistani officials said on Thursday, as Islamabad seeks to demonstrate progress after a series of high-profile migrant tragedies.
The agreement was reached during a four-nation conference in Rome attended by Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, and his European counterparts. According to a statement from Pakistan’s Interior Ministry, the countries pledged closer coordination to dismantle human smuggling networks and better regulate migration flows between South Asia and Europe.
The European Union will support Pakistan in strengthening its enforcement and institutional capacity under an existing cooperation framework, the statement said.
The talks come as Pakistan intensifies a crackdown on irregular migration following the 2023 shipwreck off Pylos, Greece — one of the Mediterranean’s deadliest disasters — in which hundreds of migrants drowned, including many Pakistanis. The tragedy prompted domestic outrage and renewed scrutiny of smuggling routes stretching from Pakistan to Europe.
Since then, Pakistani authorities say they have tightened airport screening procedures, arrested more than 1,700 suspected human smugglers and introduced technology-driven systems to detect forged travel documents. Officials say irregular migration from Pakistan to Europe fell by 47 percent in 2025 compared with the previous year, a figure that has not been independently verified.
“Pakistan, Italy, Spain and Greece agreed to adopt a coordinated strategy to curb illegal immigration at all levels,” the Interior Ministry said. The European states also endorsed Pakistan’s proposal to expand legal migration pathways as a long-term solution to irregular flows.
During the visit, Mr. Naqvi met with Greece’s migration and asylum minister, Athanasios Plevris, and the two sides agreed to finalize a Migration Cooperation Agreement and establish a joint working group to enhance coordination. Greek officials also offered support in strengthening the technological capabilities of Pakistani police and paramilitary forces.
The four countries agreed to reinforce a joint rapid response mechanism and to convene another quadrilateral meeting later this year. They also discussed arrangements to repatriate Pakistani nationals involved in serious crimes in Europe so they can face legal proceedings at home, according to the statement.
In December, Pakistan announced plans to introduce an artificial intelligence-based immigration screening system at Islamabad’s main airport. Earlier, the Federal Investigation Agency published a list of more than 100 “most wanted” human smugglers and identified major trafficking hubs.
For Pakistan, where high unemployment and economic pressures drive many to seek opportunities abroad, the challenge remains balancing enforcement with legal labor mobility. European governments, facing political pressure over migration, have increasingly sought cooperation with origin countries to stem irregular arrivals while maintaining controlled legal migration channels.
Officials on both sides described the Rome meeting as a step toward a more structured and mutually managed migration framework.
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