CHAGAI: Another 203 Pakistanis were deported by Iran through the border town of Taftan in Chagai district on Sunday.

According to official sources, the deported people were arrested in different parts of Iran for not possessing valid travel documents.

Later, they were handed over to the Taftan Levies Force.

The deported Pakistanis were trying to reach Turkey and European countries in search of better job opportunities after illegally entering Iran, a Levies Force official told Dawn.

As many as 130 people from Punjab, 33 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 24 from Balochistan, 15 from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and one from Sindh are among these deported people.

The Federal Investigation Agency took them into custody for interrogation, the sources said.

Separately, 29 deported people had been handed back to the Iranian authorities because they did not possess the computerised national identity cards of Pakistan. Levies officials said these people would be received once their identity was proved. A Levies Force officer told Dawn that the illegal migration to Europe was on the rise as the people preferred to travel in the summer season for a smooth journey. 

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2021