RAWALPINDI, Dec 24: The government has decided to constitute an inter-ministerial task force to deal with the cases of thousands of Pakistanis imprisoned in various countries for crimes raging from links with Al-Qaeda to breach of trust, Dawn has learnt. The task force would comprise officials of interior, labour and foreign affairs ministries, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Bureau of Immigration, and legal experts.

The decision to constitute the task force was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by State Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Senator Tariq Azeem Khan in Islamabad on Tuesday. The meeting was held to discuss the issue of Pakistani workers jailed in Qatar, Middle East and Malaysia.

It was also decided to launch a media campaign to discourage the travel agents involved in human smuggling and educate the people on the hazards of illegal immigration.

An official source said about 2,981 Pakistanis were languishing in Riyadh’s (Saudi Arabia) jail for involvement in crimes like over-stay, theft, road accidents, murder, fraud and money-laundering. Likewise, 103 Pakistanis are in Jeddah jail, while 400 are waiting in a deportation camp for extradition.

In Abu Dhabi 1,276 Pakistanis are jailed on various charges like murder, drug, theft, rape, illegal entry and over-stay. As many as 246 Pakistanis are languishing in Ankara’s jail for involvement in crimes like forgery in travel documents, human trafficking and smuggling.

Similarly, 81 Pakistanis are in jail in Oman on charges of illegal fishing, rape, murder, drug-trafficking and breach of trust.

Thirty Pakistanis are languishing in Madrid jail on charges of credit card fraud and alleged links with Al-Qaeda. Similarly, 250 Pakistanis are jailed in Malaysia on charges of kidnapping and violation of immigration laws.

The source said that there were 350 Pakistanis in the custody of Kuwaiti authorities out of which 286 were in the Central Jail, Kuwait, 19 in general jails and 45 in a deportation camp.