LAHORE: The federal government told the Lahore High Court on Wednesday that the Turkish staff and students of Pak-Turk international schools would not be deported till the United Nations arrived at a decision about their refugee status.

Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf told the court that the Turkish nationals associated with the schools had filed applications to the United Nations seeking refugee status. He said the government had no plans to deport them before the UN arrived at a decision.

Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi then disposed of the petition based on this statement.

The LHC had earlier issued a stay order against their possible extradition.

The petitioners, Mehmet Ali Seker and others associated with the Pak-Turk Educational Foundation, had said that they had been lawfully residing in Pakistan under the NGO category visa and had clean and unblemished records.

They told the court that the ministry of interior had refused to extend their visas without giving a reason and ordered their deportation back to Turkey.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2017