ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has deported a total of 5,033 Pakistani beggars whereas another 369 individuals have been apprehended for begging in five other countries in the last 16 months.

This information was placed before the National Assembly by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday in a written reply to a question asked by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Sehar Kamran.

The official data provided by the minister shows that a total of 5,402 Pakistanis have been deported from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since January 2024. As many as 4,850 Pakistani nationals faced deportation from these countries in the year 2024 whereas 552 have returned to Pakistan this year.

The questioner has sought data of the last three years, but the minister provided details of the period starting from January 2024.

Another 369 individuals caught begging in five other countries; nearly 52pc deportees belong to Sindh; Pakistan has expelled over one million illegal Afghans

Interestingly, the province-wise break-up of the data shows that most of those deported from these countries belong to Sindh province. A total of 2,795 people from the province are among those deported from these countries on begging charges whereas the number of such people belonging to Punjab stands at 1,437.

According to statistics, as many as 1,002 people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 125 from Balochistan, 33 from Azad Kashmir and 10 from Islamabad are among those deported from the six countries.

After Saudi Arabia, the highest number of 247 Pakistanis has been repatriated from Iraq. The UAE, which raised the issue with the Pakistan government more vigorously and imposed strict restrictions on visas for the Pakistani nationals, has so far deported 58 such individuals during this period.

Afghan Refugees

In response to another question asked by Anjum Aqeel Khan of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the interior minister informed the National Assembly that over one million “illegal Afghans”, including those possessing Afghan Citizen Card (ACC), had been repatriated since November 2023 under the Illegal Foreigner’s Repatriation Plan (IFRP).

“The IFRP has been approved by the federal government. Every sovereign state retains the right to deport illegal foreigners in order to safeguard its borders and national security.

Furthermore, there are no international legal implications for Pakistan, as it is not a signatory to the 1951 UNHCR Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol with respect to Afghan repatriation,“ says the minister in his written reply. He said Pakistan did not intend to extend the duration of ACC holders for further period.

He further said that 1.377 million Afghan refugees, holding POR (Proof of Registration) had been repatriated to Afghanistan through the UNHCR repatriation programme since 2007.

He said there were 813,146 Afghans with ACC and 1.304m POR holders in Pakistan at present.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2025