CHAGAI: Iranian authorities handed over 136 illegal Pakistani migrants to the Levies Force at the Raahdari Gate at Taftan border in Chagai district on Friday.

According to official sources, these people were arrested in different parts of Iran for lack of valid travelling documents.

Among these, 98 were from Punjab, 14 were from Sindh, 12 were from Balochistan, 11 were from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one belonged to Azad and Jammu Kashmir, who were trying to reach European countries via Iran and Turkey for getting better job opportunities.

The sources the illegal migrants were handed over to the Federal Investigation Agency for interrogation.

A Levies Force officer told Dawn that another 24 migrants, who were also deported by Iran on Friday, were handed back to the Iranian authorities as they did not have computerised national identity cards. They would be received again once their nationality was confirmed, the officer further added.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2021