Half of near 20,000 Pakistanis jailed abroad are in Saudi Arabia, Dar tells NA

This representational image shows an inside view of a prison. — Unsplash/File

A total of 19,997 Pakistanis are imprisoned in overseas jails.
Dar says no obstacle in repatriation of prisoners to Pakistan.
More than 5,000 nationals are serving time in UAE prisons.

The National Assembly session was informed on Wednesday that nearly half of the approximately 20,000 Pakistani nationals in overseas jails were imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for various crimes.

“The number of Pakistanis detained in Saudi Arabia for various crimes stands at 10,279,” Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who also serves as the deputy prime minister, stated while providing details of Pakistani inmates during the question break.

According to foreign ministry data, at least 19,997 Pakistanis are languishing in foreign jails.

Speaking about the process of repatriation of the prisoners, Dar said that upon the completion of their sentences, emergency travel documents were provided to the Pakistani nationals if their passports had expired.

“Pakistani community pays the fines of prisoners who have completed their sentences,” Dar asserted and added, “There is no obstacle in the repatriation of prisoners to Pakistan.”

Saudi Arabia, according to Dar, has agreed to transfer 570 prisoners to Pakistan under the agreement.

Aa total of 19,997 Pakistanis are in foreign jails, while 68 were on death row in 10 countries on charges of terrorism, murder and drug trafficking, as per data obtained from 88 Pakistani missions across the world.

Saudi Arabia has the highest number of imprisoned Pakistanis, followed by 5,292 in the UAE, 598 in Greece, 578 in Oman, 463 in Malaysia, 387 in Turkiye, 371 in Bahrain, 321 in the UK, 194 in Chengdu, 106 in Beijing, 84 in Guangzhou, 90 in Frankfurt, 63 in Washington, 48 in New York, 17 in Los Angeles, and 10 in Australia.

Major charges/allegations are illegal immigration/border crossing, overstay, murder, possession/use of narcotics & drugs, working without a work permit, sexual assault and harassment, human trafficking, extortion, kidnapping for ransom, robbery/theft, embezzlement/fraud, forgery, possession of counterfeit currency, money laundering, charges of espionage, smuggling (mostly narcotics), illegal possession of firearms, cybercrime and fighting/physical assault.