ISLAMABAD: Over 24,000 Pakistanis languishing in differnet jails across the globe, the Foreign Office revealed in response to a reply in Parliament.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar while replying a question stated, “According to current statistics, approximately 23,456 Pakistani citizens are imprisoned in various countries around the world.
“The largest number is in the Gulf countries, specifically Saudi Arabia (12,156), then the UAE (5,292), followed by Greece (811) and Qatar (338).”
He added that the ministry is in the process of “obtaining the previous 10-year data from all missions and sub-missions. The required information will be presented as soon as it is available.”
In February of last year, the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights had directed the foreign ministry to formulate a much-delayed “Uniform Consular Protection Policy” within three months and get it approved by the government for its implementation.
During the meeting, foreign ministry officials had said that there were 23,456 prisoners in foreign prisons, mainly in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, India and China. Out of the total number of imprisoned Pakistanis, at least 7,869 were under-trial prisoners.
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