ISLAMABAD:
As many as 26 Pakistanis are jailed in Saudi Arabia despite having served their sentences, according to State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar.
Speaking during the National Assembly question hour on Friday, Khar said the prisoners had not paid the diyat imposed on them by Saudi authorities. The fines, she said, range between 17,000 and 3.9 million Saudi riyals.
The Pakistanis are jailed mostly on offences like theft, drug trafficking, road accidents and at least one murder count. Muhammad Saeed, whose residence in Pakistan was not known, had murdered his Bangladeshi colleague in 2001. He was fined blood money of 110,000 riyals which was later brought down to 50,000. “The Pakistani consulate in Saudi Arabia had arranged for payment of diyat to the legal heirs of deceased and for shifting him to a deportation camp in Jeddah,” Khar said. She said that proper access is being secured and requests are being made to the Saudi government for fine waivers.
Deportation
Khar said that more than 73,000 Pakistanis had been deported from various countries during 2009-2010. The main reasons for deportation are illegal stay, fake travel documents and invalid work permits, violation of immigration laws and involvement in criminal or immoral activities.
The largest number of people deported was from Saudi Arabia, from where 18,093 people were sent back, followed by the United Arab Emirates from where 17,168 people were deported. Over 13,000 people each were deported from Iran and Oman. In Europe, 1,316 people were deported from Greece while over 2,000 were deported from the UK.
Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS
Minister for Housing and Works Makhdoom Shahabuddin told the house that over a thousand centres for diagnosis and treatment of Tuberculosis were operational across the country.
He claimed that free of cost facilities were being provided to patients at these centres and there was no need to create more centres.
Speaking about HIV/AIDS treatment, Shahabuddin said that besides the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, there were 13 more hospitals and treatment centres for patients throughout the country.
Railways
Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour clarified that no goods train had been discontinued over the past three years.
He said that the marriage coach, which was started in January 2008, was discontinued as it failed to attract public attention.
Talking about railway land leasing, he said land worth Rs1.89 billion was leased on short- and long-term basis during 2007-08. He said that an open auction was held publicly and 50 per cent of bid money was recovered at the time of auction.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 30th, 2011.
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