Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) expressed concerned over the decision of immigration authorities at Islamabad airport who prevented journalist Asad Ali Toor from travelling outside Pakistan. Authorities must explain why Toor was placed on the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) and barred from travel.

In a post shared on X, Toor shared that he was traveling from Islamabad to Washington, DC, to attend the 12-day International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) organized by the U.S. State Department. Toor, who runs the YouTube channel Asad Toor Uncensored with more than 330,000 subscribers, said that he was barred from traveling by immigration authorities who stated that his name was on the PNIL.

“I repeatedly asked the reason of adding my name on the PNIL but officials had no answer […],” shared Toor in a post on X on August 9.

Toor and his lawyer, Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, challenged the decision in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). On August 12, Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfaraz Dogar upheld the registrar’s objection to the petition’s maintainability, ruling that Toor should have first approached immigration authorities. Mazari shared on X that when they informed the court that if Toor did not travel by tomorrow, he would miss the IVLP, the chief justice said that this was not his fundamental right.

On August 19, Toor shared an order sheet from the Islamabad High Court, which stated: “Office objection is sustained.”

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) condemned the “growing practice” of preventing journalists from travelling abroad without legal justification. HRCP said that the arbitrary use of the PNIL to curtail movement undermined Constitutional guarantees and contributes to an increasingly hostile environment for the press. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on authorities to drop travel restrictions against Toor.