Pakistanis in foreign jails: details sought

Senate body mulls summoning reps of relevant departments

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development on Friday directed the OP&HRD Ministry to provide complete details of overseas Pakistanis detained in different countries.

The Senate body meeting, chaired by Senator Hilalur Rehman, passed the directive unanimously while discussing the plight of a Pakistani, Zahir Hussain, detained after being convicted in a road accident case since 2012 in a foreign country.

The committee also suggested summoning representatives of all relevant departments in the next meeting to deliberate on the matter pertaining to overseas Pakistanis languishing in jails of different countries and evolve a comprehensive strategy, especially repatriation of those involved in petty crimes.

Apprising the body about current status of the Zahir Hussain case, a ministry representative said the matter had already been taken up with the Pakistani mission in Saudi Arabia by the OPF and filed a mercy appeal with the Royal Court through the embassy of Pakistan in Riyadh. “The case is being pursued by the Pakistani mission and a response is still awaited,” he added.

Senator Sassui Palijo took exception to the ministry for not bringing complete record regarding the case and said there would be a way out for which coordinated efforts were required.

To this, OPF Managing Director Dr Amir Sheikh informed the committee that the case was pertaining to a compoundable offence in which a state could not intervene, adding that Zahir Hussain was bound to pay 1.3 million riyals as per compensation.

"It is a hefty sum which cannot be paid through the Community Welfare Fund as we have to facilitate every Pakistani expatriate through this fund equally," the managing director added.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan was recently apprised by the foreign ministry about the number of overseas Pakistanis detained abroad, following which directives were issued to ensure their release, especially those involves in petty crimes.

Senator Khalid Shaheen Butt said that there was a need to look into factual details of the case and asked the ministry to present all relevant details of the Zahir Hussain case.



Special Assistant to Prime Minister on OP&HRD Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari said first and foremost, they had to obey rule of the land, adding “it is also a fact that being the custodian of the overseas Pakistanis' fund we have to ensure utilisation of the fund rationally”.

“This is not about a single expatriate as we have to own all overseas Pakistanis,” he added.

The special assistant said that they were in contact with different countries regarding extradition treaties for those detainees convicted in minor crimes.

The ministry secretary assured the committee of quick redressal of the issue and added that he would keep it on priority.

Senator Mirza Muhammad Afridi suggested involving local communities and foundations for the release of innocent detainees, giving an example of an identical case in Bahrain that was resolved due to the efforts of a local foundation.

The committee chairman underlined the need for more coordinated and effective mechanism to facilitate overseas Pakistanis.

The committee was also briefed about the degree status of the OPF employees and told that the ministry was conducting inquiry against four employees who possessed fake degrees.

The OPF managing director said 18 employees were those who had given a one-month period to provide evidence of the process of verification of their degrees, assuring the committee that the process would be completed by the next 90 days.

The committee also agreed to table draft of the "Companies Profits (Workers' Participation Amendment) Bill, 2018 in the Senate.

The Senate body was also briefed about the establishment of two high schools and one Polytechnic Institute at Zhob district to which the special assistant appeared less satisfied and sought time from the committee to go through the feasibility study of those institutions.

Among others, the meeting was attended by senators Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Molvi Faiz Muhammad, Shaheen Khalid Butt, Sassui Palijo and Muhammad Ayub, besides senior officials of the ministry and concerned departments.