A delegation of young Pakistani Catholics was prevented by government officials from flying out of the country to join the Jan. 22-27 World Youth Day in Panama. Young Pakistani Catholics who were about to fly out to join the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day (WYD) in Panama were blocked at Lahore airport by Pakistan’s Department for Immigration Office, the Fides news agency has reported.
As reported by mattersindia.com, The news agency said the Pakistani Catholic delegation was blocked at Allama Iqbal International Airport and 14 young people with regular visas, were not allowed to travel. Only a Jesuit seminarian, Emmanuel, was allowed to embark. Paul Mohan, coordinator of the Catholic Youth Commission of the Diocese of Hyderabad, narrated the delegation’s ordeal and bitter disappointment to Fides. He said on the morning of January 23, the group collected the boarding passes, went through the security checks at the airport but were blocked by the Immigration Office. They were kept waiting for more than an hour with the officials refusing to let them go.
Mohan said they tried talking to the members of Immigration Office and the officials of the airlines and changed the tickets for the following day, paying the penalty, hoping the problem was over. But the next day, Mohan said the Immigration Office stopped them again despite a regular visa and the letters from the bishops.
Source: Fides
