KARACHI: Sixty-two Pakistanis languishing in prisons of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) were brought back home via special flight on Tuesday after Prime Minister Imran Khan intervened and arranged funds for their repatriation.

“On my instructions, funds were arranged & a special flight brought back 62 prisoners from KSA today, so they could be back with their families for Eid,” Mr Khan tweeted and posted their picture.

“Helping Pakistanis in prisons abroad & assisting in their return to Pakistan is my govt’s commitment to our people,” the tweet added.

For repatriation of over 2,000 Pakistani prisoners languishing in KSA jails, Islamabad and Riyadh had signed a prisoner transfer agreement in May.

Earlier in February 2019, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman had visited Islamabad and agreed to free 2,107 Pakistani prisoners after Mr Khan drew his attention towards their plight. Later in October, an official of the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation had informed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development that 579 Pakistani prisoners had been released by Saudi Arabia under the royal clemency.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2021