Over a quarter of a million Pakistanis have been deported from 125 countries since 2013 when the PML-N government swept to power, the National Assembly was told on Thursday.
Some 140,393 or more than half of all the Pakistanis deported during this period were from Saudi Arabia. The United Arab Emirates accounted for 23,330 explusions — the second highest number of Pakistani deportations.
Parliamentary Secretary Interior and Narcotics Marriyum Aurangzeb presented these figures in the National Assembly on Thursday, in reply to a question from MNA Sajida Begum.
According to official statistics, Saudi Arabia accounted for the highest number of Pakistani deportations. In 2013, the kingdom sent back 25,599 Pakistanis, 45,456 in 2014 and 61,403 in 2015. In 2016, the Saudi authorities expelled around 7,935 Pakistanis. The highest number of Pakistani expatriates work in Saudi Arabia.
Coming second in the list of countries that booted out unwanted Pakistanis was the United Arab Emirates which sent home around 23,330 green passport holders.
The United Kingdom has deported around 7,777 Pakistanis since 2013, while 358 were expelled from the United States during the said period.
Other countries that deported a significant number of Pakistanis include South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, Russian Federation, Germany and Bahrain.
Reasons
MNA Sajida Begum asked Marriyum Aurangzeb if the Pakistani deportees were sent back without any logical reason. The parliamentary secretary replied that among the several reasons for deportation was illegal documentation, overstay, passport and other issues. “Nobody is deported without any reason,” she said.
She said the government formulated the first-ever deportation policy of the country and drafted a database had started functioning in the Federal Investigation Authority.Around 257, 433 Pakistani immigrants have been deported from countries around the world over the past four years, the lower house of parliament was informed on Friday.
Responding to a question, State Minister for Interior Affairs Balighur Rehman informed the National Assembly that 257,433 Pakistanis have been deported since January 2012.The minister revealed that an estimated 55,279 Pakistanis were deported in 2012, 67,330 in 2013, 78,409 in 2014 and 56,415 were sent home this year.
In response to another query, Rehman told the house that the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) is in the process of setting up centres in key US cities, which will enable expats to process their National Identity Cards online. The minister said registration centres were being set up in Malaysia, Bahrain, Canada and Spain to facilitate overseas Pakistanis.
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