283 Pakistanis being deported every day since 2015

ISLAMABAD: More than 283 Pakistani nationals are being deported by over a hundred countries daily since 2015.

Dreams of hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis for greener pastures shattered after they all were expelled either for illegal entry, having bogus travel documents or expiry of their work permits in the host countries. More than 618,877 Pakistanis have been deported from 138 countries since 2015, according to the official data the Geo News obtained exclusively. Officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) say these deportees perhaps could not get proper support of Pakistan missions abroad, a move which led to an alarming rise in deportees in recent years.

Over 72 percent of total figures were deported from seven friendly countries namely Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Iran and Turkey. The average deportation of Pakistanis during the six-year period amounts to 321,590 (147 per day) from Saudi Arabia which is 52 percent of the total deportees. Over 61,403 Pakistanis were deported in 2015, 57,704 in 2016, 93,736 in 2017, 50,944 in 2018, 38,470 in 2019 and 19,333 deported by Saudi Arabia last year.

The UAE deported more than 53,649 Pakistanis during the last six years. Around 8,690 in 2015; 9,980 in 2016; 10,393 in 2017; 10,684 in 2018; 6,602 in 2019 and 7,300 in 2020. The Iranian immigration staff sent back around 136,930 Pakistanis in the last six years. Tehran handed over some 27,051 illegal immigrants to Pakistan’s border authorities at the Taftan border in Balochistan in 2015, 25,808 in 2016, 21623 in 2017, 25,563 in 2018, 17,470 in 2019 and 19,395 in 2020.

Similarly, the Omani authorities sent some 4,543 Pakistanis back home in 2015, 1,794 in 2016, 3,165 in 2017, 2018 in 2018, 1,874 in 2019 and 1,743 last year. The United Kingdom has deported over 8,000 Pakistanis since 2015 on the grounds that they were living there without proper documentation. Around 2,514 Pakistanis were expelled in 2015, 1,889 in 2016, 1,769 in 2017, 1,007 in 2018, 603 in 2019 and 328 in 2020.

Over 32,300 Pakistanis were deported from Turkey in the last six years, with 7,347 in 2020, 11,119 in 2019, 4,452 in 2018, 4,925 in 2017, 2,127 in 2016 and over 2,320 in 2015.

More than 1,700 Pakistanis were deported from the United States since 2015, with 166 in 2015, 212 in 2016, 285 in 2017, 293 in 2018, 372 in 2019 and 282 last year. Almost 1,563 Pakistanis were deported by Thai authorities while Qatar expelled 870 Pakistani nationals in the past six years. Over these six years, as many as 6,230 Pakistanis were deported from Greece, with 706 illegal immigrants sent home last year. The Indian immigration staff has sent back around 243 Pakistanis in the last six years. Russian authorities have handed over some 564 illegal immigrants to Pakistan’s border authorities since 2015.

Similarly, the Bahrain authorities sent some 1,030 Pakistanis home since 2015, with 352 deported in 2015, 183 in 2016, 136 in 2017, 168 in 2018, 140 in 2019 and 69 last year. The Australian authorities deported some 203 Pakistanis since 2015 on the grounds that they were living there without proper documentation. Around 183 Pakistanis were expelled by Bangladesh in the past six years.

South Africa sent home around 3,800 Pakistanis in the last six years while some 560 were deported from South Korea and 13 from Afghanistan during this period. While 350 Pakistanis were deported from China, 200 from Azerbaijan, Canada witnessed four deportations, Hong Kong deported 800 Pakistanis while France expelled 756 Pakistanis during this period, according to the official data obtained under RTI laws by this correspondent.

FIA officials told the Geo News that new immigration policies adopted by different countries, particularly by the governments of Saudi Arabia and the UAE have created problems for the expats. Some migrants managed to gain entry into other countries on the basis of dubious documents usually prepared by their agents or human traffickers while some deportees deliberately misplaced their documents to prolong their illegal stay.