Pakistan’s Minister of State for Interior, Talal Chaudhry, told parliament that Saudi Arabia had informed Pakistan that it had seized 5,000 forged Pakistani passports, with some discovered years later and others months after their holders had entered Saudi Arabia.

The Pakistani minister’s statement sparked a wave of questions in parliament over what had happened, given that:

▪️ The forged passports had obtained official visas for Saudi Arabia.
▪️ Their holders had then officially entered Saudi Arabia using the forged passports.

Parliament debated whether security screening in Saudi Arabia was inadequate or whether the forgery was highly sophisticated.