Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told the National Assembly on Wednesday that more than 10,000 Pakistani nationals are imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for various crimes. “The number of Pakistanis detained in Saudi Arabia for various crimes is 10,279,” said Dar, who also serves as deputy prime minister, giving details of Pakistani prisoners during a question break. At least 19,997 Pakistanis are languishing in foreign prisons, according to State Department figures. Talking about the process of repatriation of prisoners, Dar said that emergency travel documents were provided to Pakistani nationals after completing their sentences if their passports had expired. “Pakistani community pays fines to prisoners who have completed their sentence,” Dar said, adding, “There is no bar in repatriating prisoners to Pakistan.” According to Dar, Saudi Arabia agreed to transfer 570 prisoners to Pakistan as part of the deal. A total of 19,997 Pakistanis are in foreign prisons, with 68 sentenced to death in 10 countries on charges of terrorism, murder and drug trafficking, according to data obtained from 88 Pakistani missions around 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 United Kingdom, 194 in Chengdu, 106 in Beijing, 84 in Guangzhou , 90 in Frankfurt, 63 inches in Washington, 48 in New York, 17 in Los Angeles and 10 in Australia. Major allegations/charges include illegal immigration/border crossing, overstaying, murder, possession/use of narcotics and drugs, working without a work permit, sexual assault and harassment, human trafficking, extortion, kidnapping for ransom, robbery /theft, embezzlement/fraud, forgery, possession of counterfeit money, money laundering, charges of espionage, smuggling (mostly narcotics), illegal possession of firearms, cybercrime and fighting/physical assault.
