1,264 Pakis held in 31 countries: Pak Foreign Minister

Islamabad, Jan 20: Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri has said some 1,264 Pakistanis were arrested in 31 countries for possessing fake documents and visas during the last three years.

The Dawn newspaper quoted the Foreign Minister as saying that in Islamabad, the highest number of 428 Pakistanis were arrested in the UK followed by 311 in Saudi Arabia with fake documents or visas in the last three years.

He said 88 Pakistanis were arrested in Germany, 87 in Singapore, 52 in France, 38 in Japan, 28 each in Poland and Italy, 25 in Canada, 24 in Austria, 19 in Norway, 18 each in Malaysia and Croatia, 17 in Denmark, 16 in the US, 12 in Hong Kong, 10 in Sri Lanka, seven in Egypt, six each in Portugal and Mauritius, five in India, four each in Azerbaijan and Slovakia, three in Bahrain, two each in Kuwait, Qatar and Syria, and one each in Serbia, Romania, Tunisia and Kenya.

About the assistance provided to the arrested citizens, the Minister said Pakistani missions abroad had requested the concerned quarters for counsellors.

He said embassy officials regularly undertook visits to the detention centres to meet the prisoners and to ascertain their welfare.

The missions also provided the services of lawyers and assisted in facilitating the services of Pakistani volunteers, he added.

Emergency passports were issued to Pakistanis whose cases regarding immigration, asylum and overstay had been decided by the courts of the host countries, he added.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, while responding to a supplementary question, said it was the responsibility of the Interior Ministry to check incidents of human trafficking.

UNI