Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar informed the Senate on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia has released a total of 7,208 Pakistani prisoners between 2019 and 2024. During the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to Pakistan in February 2019, then Prime Minister Imran Khan asked for the release of Pakistani prisoners. Days after the historic visit, the crown prince ordered the release of a large number of Pakistani prisoners. Dar, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, informed the Upper House of Parliament in a written reply today that the Ministry of External Affairs is developing a comprehensive consular policy through consultation with stakeholders for Pakistanis incarcerated in foreign jails. He added that while the policy is being formulated, Pakistan continues to protect its citizens abroad through established international frameworks. “Our consular officers visit Pakistani nationals who are in prison or detention and provide them with legal representation,” the foreign minister said. Analyzing the prisoners released from Saudi prisons, Dar said 545 prisoners were released in 2019, 892 in 2020, 916 in 2021, 1,331 in 2022, 1,394 in 2023 and 2,130. Due to the constant influx of prisoners, difficult to ascertain the actual number of prisoners released from foreign prisons. At present, over 23,456 Pakistani nationals are in jail in various countries of the world, he added. He further said that there are 12,156 Pakistani nationals in Saudi jails, 5,292 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 811 in Greece and 338 in Qatar. It is pertinent to mention that most of the prisoners have settled illegally in foreign countries, while other Pakistani nationals imprisoned abroad were held for minor crimes.
