258 Pakistanis deported from 7 countries in last 24 hours

KARACHI: In the last 24 hours, as many as 258 Pakistanis arrived home after being deported from seven countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and China.

According to the Immigration officials, among those deported, 14 had Pakistani passports, while 244 were deported on emergency travel documents.

Upon their arrival at Karachi Airport, 16 deportees were arrested for various legal violations, while the rest were released after the investigation.

From Saudi Arabia, 232 individuals were deported including seven beggars. Among them, two Pakistani nationals were caught performing Hajj without permits.

Another four Pakistanis had overstayed their Umrah visas, and 27 were working without sponsorship (kafeel).

Furthermore, 16 of the deportees stayed beyond the validity of their visas, 112 were deported due to complaints from their sponsors, and 63 faced other charges, the immigration authorities said.

Apart from that, UAE deported 21, while one individual each was deported from China, Qatar, Indonesia, Cyprus, and Nigeria.

Immigration officials added that 16 deportees from the UAE and Nigeria were listed on the FIA’s immigration stop list due to serious violations, but, they were released after interrogation.

In addition to that, the the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Immigration Cell officials at Karachi airport offloaded 35 passengers including 18 those who were going on Umrah visas without any advance hotel bookings and sufficient funds.