Over 23,000 Pakistanis imprisoned in foreign countries: FM Dar

ISLAMABAD: A total of 23,456 Pakistani nationals are incarcerated in different countries around the world, with the highest numbers in the Gulf region, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told the Senate on Tuesday.

Deputy Prime Minister Dar stated that 12,156 Pakistanis are imprisoned in Saudi Arabia and 5,292 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Ministry is currently working on gathering and consolidating updated data from all its missions over the past 10 years, which will be shared with the Senators once it is compiled, he stated.

Apart from that, he said that around 7,208 Pakistani prisoners were released from prisons in Saudi Arabia from 2019-2024.

During Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s visit to Pakistan in February 2019, then prime minister Imran Khan requested for the release of Pakistani prisoners.

Days after the historic visit, the crown prince ordered the release of a large number of Pakistani prisoners.

Around 4,301 released Pakistan prisoners fall under the consular jurisdiction of the Pakistan Consulate General in Jeddah and 2,907 under the Pakistan Embassy in Riyadh, the Foreign Minister said.

In response to a question from Dr. Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur, the minister provided the following breakdown of Pakistani prisoners released from Saudi jails: 545 in 2019, 892 in 2020, 916 in 2021, 1,331 in 2022, 1,394 in 2023, and 2,130 in 2024.

“Our consular officers visit Pakistani nationals, who are in prison or detention, and arrange legal representation for them,” said the foreign minister.

Dar further informed the house that it was difficult to ascertain the actual number of prisoners released from foreign jails due to the continuous influx of inmates.