Pakistani citizens incarcerated abroad will be able to return home if the government ratified prisoner convention. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
A large number of Pakistanis have moved abroad seeking greener pastures but a handful of Pakistani expatriates, most of them in the US, Middle East and Europe, have a fate no one would want to share.
Pakistani citizens incarcerated in various countries across the globe, especially in the US and Europe, will be able to return home if the government ratified the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons.
This convention, signed and ratified by 64 countries, allows foreign prisoners to serve out their sentence in their home countries. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar had recommended signing of the convention for repatriation of Pakistanis to their homeland.
More than some 550 prisoners are currently languishing in the US jails and will be handed over to authorities in Islamabad if Pakistan chose to be a signatory.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2013.
COMMENTS (4)
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Author neglected to note that the Convention doesn't guarantee return of Pakistan expatriates - just provides a framework for their return assuming both countries agree. It's unlikely that either the USA or EU would return a serious criminal to Pakistan given the poor prison conditions and notorious prison break outs - further - it's unlikely that Pakistan want's to spend precious money on housing expatriate prisoners.
The title "Banged Up Abroad" does not imply that a person has been imprisoned. It implies something entirely different.
Bring Afia Home.
the biggest hurdle is the EU insistence on pakistan abolishing the death penalty before they sign the agreements. jouranlists should get their facts right before becoming experts!