Saudi Arabia deported 285,980 Pakistanis during 2015-19: Qureshi

PTI, Feb 1, 2020, 3:13 PM IST

Islamabad: Saudi Arabia has deported a total of 285,980 Pakistanis from the Kingdom during the past five years for a range of crimes and illegal activities, Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi informed the Parliament on Friday.

Qureshi submitted a list of Pakistanis who have been deported from Saudi Arabia in the past five years to the Senate, the upper house.

According to the official APP news agency, the numbers were presented in the Senate in response to a query from a Senator.

According to the list, 285,980 Pakistanis were deported from Riyadh and Jeddah between 2015 and 2019.

Of these, 61,076 people were sent back from Riyadh and 224,904 from Jeddah.

According to Qureshi, the Pakistani citizens were deported because of expired visas, performing Hajj without permission, being involved in the narcotics trade, overstaying in Saudi Arabia after arriving on an Umrah visa, quarrelling and other offences.