Fact-check: Australia has not placed a travel ban on Pakistani military officials

Twitter and Facebook posts falsely claim that Australia has imposed a travel ban on over 50 senior officials of the Pakistan army and the intelligence agency.

Claim

“Australia has banned the entry of Pakistani honorable generals,” a verified Twitter account tweeted on June 5.

The user also posted a video in which a narrator could be heard saying that Australia will not allow General retired Qamar Javed Bajwa, the former chief of army staff, General Asim Munir, the serving chief of army staff, and some 50 officials, including officials from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), from entering the country.

“The ban has been imposed due to human rights violations in Pakistan,” the post goes on to claim.

The video has been viewed over 71,000 times and retweeted over 4,000 times to date.

An identical claim was shared by another Twitter user.

While similar claims took off on Facebook too. “Australia has banned Pakistani generals from its country,” a user wrote on the platform on June 5.

Fact

No such travel ban has been imposed by Australia on any military official of Pakistan, confirmed the Australian High Commission in Pakistan.

“The Australian High Commission is aware of reports on social media regarding visa bans,” a spokesperson of the Commission told Geo Fact Check via email received on June 21, “These reports are false.”

“Australia supports a Pakistan that is peaceful, prosperous and democratic,” the spokesperson wrote, “Australia regularly raises human rights with the Government of Pakistan.”

With additional reporting by Muhammad Binyameen Iqbal.

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