Islamabad: Around a thousand ‘Schengen’ visa stickers have been stolen from the Embassy of Italy in Pakistan this month. The Foreign Office gave this information here on Tuesday. Foreign Office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry told the media that the Italian diplomatic mission has reported the theft of visa stickers to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after which the information was immediately shared with the relevant department.
He said the Italian embassy in Islamabad had approached Pakistani authorities for help in locating nearly a thousand ‘Schengen’ visa stickers stolen from its locker room this month. “The information was immediately shared with the concerned authorities for appropriate action,” Choudhary said.
Based on the available information, the number of stolen visa stickers ranges from ITA041913251 to ITA041914000 while on 250 other stickers the number is ITA041915751 to ITA041916000.
Schengen visa is valid in 26 European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland , Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
The Italian Embassy is located in a high-security diplomatic enclave and no one can enter without special permission. A special unit of Islamabad Police is stationed there for 24-hour security.
Police said the case was the first of its kind and human traffickers who had links with people working in the embassy may have been involved in the theft. Officials said anyone who used the stolen visa sticker would be identified.
