ISLAMABAD: As many as 44 Pakistani prisoners currently in Sri Lankan jails will shortly be repatriated to complete their remaining jail term in the country, informed sources told Dawn on Monday.

The return of the prisoners convicted in Sri Lanka on different charges will be in accordance with a 2004 agreement on the transfer of offenders between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Under the agreement, transfers are allowed in cases where sentences exceed a minimum of six months.

A chartered flight of the national flag carrier — Pakis­tan International Airlines (PIA) — will bring these prisoners back to the country.

Though an official said that these prisoners would come to Pakistan in the next couple of days, a diplomatic source said the prisoners would be handed over to Pakistani prison officers at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) on Tuesday (today).

The Ministry of Interior played the lead role in implementation of the agreement of prisoners’ swap between the two counties.

The decision was reached during a meeting summoned by the interior ministry to discuss the matter pertaining to repatriation of Pakistani prisoners from Sri Lanka.

The meeting held on Oct 29 also finalised the plan for arrangement of flight, verification of prisoners and their safe shifting in Pakistan.

An official said that inter-agency coordination in this regard was under way with Nadra (National Database and Registration Authority), Fede­ral Investigation Agen­cy, PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority.

The interior ministry continues to take steps to bring Pakistani prisoners stranded abroad back to the country and in a similar successful effort at least 250 Pakistani inmates have returned from Malaysia. They landed at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport on board a Malaysian airline flight in May this year.

All the prisoners were shifted to quarantine facilities after screening for coronavirus at the airport.

Pakistan’s high commissioner in Sri Lanka had recently assured the prisoners that the government was actively working on implementation of an agreement with Sri Lanka regarding exchange of prisoners between the two countries.

Talking to Pakistani prisoners during his visit to two jails, High Commissioner Maj Gen (r) Muhammad Saad Khattak told the detainees that the agreement would allow their repatriation to complete their remaining sentence in Pakistani jails.

He said that he would approach the Sri Lankan authorities to accelerate legal proceedings against the detainees awaiting trial for a long time. “We will assist them in every possible way to cut short this waiting period and dispense justice to you in a speedy manner,” he told the prisoners.

Maj Gen (r) Khattak assured the Pakistani prisoners held under minor charges of violating immigration rules that every effort would be made to expedite their deportation to the country.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2020