August 24, 2003	Sunday	Jumadi-us-Sani 25

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RAWALPINDI, August 23: At least 103 Pakistani deportees on Saturday arrived here from Libya aboard a chartered flight. It was the first such deportation flight from Libya.

The deportees had reportedly travelled to Libya on valid travel documents. However, the Libyan government deported them on the charges that they were attempting to proceed illegally to Italy.

The deportees denied this, saying that they had been working as labourers in Libya and had been strictly obeying the Libyan laws. They said the Libyan government had initiated a crackdown against Pakistanis living there, rounding them up and later deported them.

Deportees narrated horrifying tales of harassment and torture during their detention in Libya. They said they were made to live in inhuman conditions in the Libyan prisons.

One of the deportees, Haji Javed, said he, along with 23 other people, had been sent to Libya by a Rawalpindi-based recruiting agent, who had charged them Rs80,000 each. The agent, he said, had claimed that they had been hired for a Libyan company.

On their arrival in Libya, he said, the group of 23 people was received by a representative of the agent, who transported them to a village and “disappeared.” Mr Javed said they inquired from the people about the company, for which they had been employed. However, the company turned out to be non-existent.

In the meantime, he said, police came to know about them and arrested them. They (police) took away all their belongings and cash, he said.