‘Quarter of a million Pakistanis deported over five-year period’

E-Paper | May 03, 2026

ISLAMABAD: Over 250,000 illegal Pakistani immigrants have been deported back to the country between January 2009 and October 2014, according to the Foreign Office (FO).

Among these, the highest number of deportees came from Saudi Arabia, the second highest from Iran, while 36,371 were deported from the UAE.

An FO official said that most of the individuals deported from Saudi Arabia and UAE were job-seekers or businessmen, “whereas the majority of deportees from Iran are people who were using that country as a transit station, just like Greece.”

Deportations from Gulf nations, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, were attributed mainly to security-related issues in these countries.

FO data also indicates that a number of Pakistanis have been deported back from several non-traditional destinations, including Ukraine, Lithuania and Georgia.

In all, 253,894 illegal immigrants had been sent back to the country, according to data from December 2014.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2015

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Pakistan

Kalbe Ali is a senior staff reporter for Dawn based in Islamabad, with nearly 20 years of field reporting experience. He covers a diverse range of topics, including the internet, IT and telecom sectors, as well as religious affairs.

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VK, Pul Bangash, Dilli

Apr 13, 2015 11:07am

SA and UAE numbers might multiply a bit faster within next year.....

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syed

Apr 13, 2015 11:12am

welcome back. at least you tried. i know it is hard here. May be next time. good luck

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Naseer

Apr 13, 2015 11:14am

All those deportees were illegals ,and criminals, so don't feel sorry for them, they made Pakistan name bad.even Government of Pakistan should do the same ,with illegals immigriants.

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noname

Apr 13, 2015 11:16am

its sad that people are unable to find work and dignity at their own place in many countries...Pakistanis are no exception Raghu

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Salut

Apr 13, 2015 11:18am

That's not fair, where Pakistanis should go?

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saqib UK

Apr 13, 2015 11:20am

im sure UK should be on that list too, hear about someone getting deported every other week.

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Salut

Apr 13, 2015 11:20am

Good to see that Pakistani's are not being deported from any developed country viz. USA, UK, EU etc...are they smart enough to respect Pakistani talent in their countries??

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Sandeep Singh

Apr 13, 2015 11:23am

Islamic Ummah?

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Surya

Apr 13, 2015 11:45am

No one wants them in their midst due to their nuisance value!

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Noor

Apr 13, 2015 11:46am

The ones "deported" from Saudi and UAE most likely are workers who never received their salary and got "kicked out without pay" to avoid the inconvenience ...

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Hasan Hasni

Apr 13, 2015 11:51am

No Europe or American countries with exception of Brazil and Greece in the list. There must be some thing wrong

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Kamal Pasha.

Apr 13, 2015 11:51am

They should never be allowed to get passports again at all.

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Vicky

Apr 13, 2015 11:52am

still there are lot of illegal Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia, Y they don't care for their country & r defaming us?

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Zeezoo

Apr 13, 2015 11:59am

@Surya please check indian figure which is more than 3 million in same period... mostly because of bogus papers

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Omar

Apr 13, 2015 12:01pm

I'm sure the number of illegal Iraqis, afghans, Indians and Bengalis must be much higher. Would be nice to put these numbers in a context rather than in a bland article meant to highlight our own numbers.

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Naseer

Apr 13, 2015 12:05pm

See how much Arabs love Pakistanis. In every Arab country there are many times more Indians than Pakistanis. Why these countries didn't ask India to help.

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Sajjad Khan

Apr 13, 2015 12:17pm

The solution is to curbe the population explosion itself and not "exporting" humans to other countries.

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Zia

Apr 13, 2015 12:26pm

@VK, Pul Bangash, Dilli ..Please mind your own business

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Siraj Ahmed

Apr 13, 2015 12:29pm

This must be a record for any country in the world. Whenever I go abroad I call myself Indian.

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Ali

Apr 13, 2015 12:42pm

this people have gone to earn for their family, so stop accusing them of any wrong doing. just like you aboard. for better life and better living

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fake ZAK

Apr 13, 2015 12:55pm

Zinda Bhaag..!

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Apr 13, 2015 01:00pm

What a proud moment it must be for fellow pakistani readers !

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A Pakistani

Apr 13, 2015 01:02pm

Exporting untrained and unskilled labour to the mid-east was initiated by ZA Bhutto. This was to alleviate the economic crisis at home after Pakistan was bifurcated in to two by India. Secondly it started earning foreign exchange immediately . However, little did he or subsequent governments in Pakistan realise the fatality of this strategy that has started to haunt us. Pakistan needs to immediately implement domestic growth strategy at every sector of the economy instead of relying of fund-dependent mega project. Henceforth, we should only export skilled labour on a planned basis. They have much higher value added and are difficult to replace.

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avi

Apr 13, 2015 01:08pm

Be it bangaldesi or Pakistani s they are always illegal

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Oneeb

Apr 13, 2015 01:10pm

A lot of Pakistanis are in Saudi jails and many are being hanged in last few months or so for being involved in different criminal cases. FO and interior ministry should also share the numbers of Pakistanis in foreign jails and help those which are innocent.

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Khan

Apr 13, 2015 01:18pm

this is try to search the world for earning....not else...people commit such action in the presences of appetite ...

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Sandeep Singh

Apr 13, 2015 01:31pm

@Omar Indian gets visa acces very easily as compared to Pakistani one....So no illegal means for indians.

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vijaykumar

Apr 13, 2015 01:34pm

@Noor very true.

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vijaykumar

Apr 13, 2015 01:35pm

@avi Sorry Avi. Indians too are there.

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Agha Asad Raza

Apr 13, 2015 01:45pm

good thing.

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Bernama

Apr 13, 2015 02:39pm

That is not bad at all, even if there is 10% success that means there are 50,000 Pakistanis who have been able to avoid deportation. Now if all of them send even $100 a month, that is $60 million extra foreign exchange for Pakistan. Pakistan can only express its gratitude towards those successful. and to those have been failed, better luck next time. Today Pakistan earns over $20 billion worth of foreign exchange because of these enterprising Pakistanis.

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BEWARE: KING TROLL TROLLS THE EARTH

Apr 13, 2015 02:41pm

@Siraj Ahmed Kudos to you Brother, then please also give India a neutral / objective consideration when bad thinks are being said against it in Pakistan.

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Stargazer

Apr 13, 2015 02:51pm

Its not that all are deported are criminals. As written in the article a lot of them especially from GCC countries, are deported merely because of their sect, or their names.

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Apr 13, 2015 04:54pm

@Zeezoo well in that case provide the details please

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Agrippa - The Skeptic

Apr 13, 2015 05:24pm

@Omar "I'm sure the number of illegal Iraqis, afghans, Indians and Bengalis must be much higher. Would be nice to put these numbers in a context rather than in a bland article meant to highlight our own numbers." ... and you mean this will lessen the sufferings of these poor souls.

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Agrippa - The Skeptic

Apr 13, 2015 05:28pm

@Naseer read a n answer below: BERNAMA about 3 hours ago That is not bad at all, even if there is 10% success that means there are 50,000 Pakistanis who have been able to avoid deportation. Now if all of them send even $100 a month, that is $60 million extra foreign exchange for Pakistan. Pakistan can only express its gratitude towards those successful. and to those have been failed, better luck next time. Today Pakistan earns over $20 billion worth of foreign exchange because of these enterprising Pakistanis.

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Patmyownback

Apr 13, 2015 08:12pm

@Salut : Better educated and skilled Pakistanis go to developed countries and most do well. Those people are a real economic LOSS to Pakistan.

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chakkar

Apr 13, 2015 10:19pm

Funny some Pakistani thought Djibouti a better option than Pakistan....

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Karamatullah

Apr 13, 2015 11:11pm

The population of Pakistan has swelled beyond the country,s resources and the new generation is faced with joblessness, hunger and diseases. The people of Pakistan have no choice but to search for jobs abroad so that they can support their large families. Pakistanis working abroad are paid for their services and they do not ask for charities from the host countries. These people need to be helped by provision of jobs so that their dream for honest living come true.

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Rev. Eldrick Lal

Apr 13, 2015 11:40pm

Why our brotherly Islamic countries deporting Pakistanis?

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Black Sabbath

Apr 14, 2015 12:57am

US & other western countries are not on the list because they already deported many Pakistanis soon after 9/11. I remember when I moved to New York in the mid 90's, I used to see 1 Pakistani for every Indian, now I see 1 Pakistani for every 10 Indians. Its unfortunate but a bitter truth about Pakistan's image abroad.

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parveez

Apr 14, 2015 01:47am

@Salut Stay at home.

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Umar Sultan

Apr 14, 2015 04:33am

Notice these are mostly Muslim countries deporting Pakistanis. The Christian countries are far more compassionate to the plight of poor Pakistanis and willing to help them.

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Shah Nawaz Ifthikhar

Apr 14, 2015 05:19pm

@Karamatullah if the country spend less on military and luxuries for feudal elites then there actually may develop a viable economy and civil service in this country.

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