ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: Kuwaiti authorities have recently hanged five Pakistanis on the charges of drug smuggling and the fate of over 200 others, facing trials under similar charges, hangs in the balance as Islamabad is making efforts to bring them back to the country.

“Out of 242 Pakistanis held for drug smuggling, five have been hanged recently and the others are waiting for the judgements in their cases,” Minister for Labour and Manpower Ghulam Sarwar Khan said on Monday.

Efforts were being made by the government for conversion of the death penalty into life imprisonment but it was expected that a majority of the remaining 237 accused would be given capital punishment, sources in the ministry said.

Speaking at a press conference in the labour ministry on his return from visits to Kuwait and Qatar, the minister said drug smuggling from Pakistan to Kuwait had been controlled after which the Kuwaiti government had lifted the ban on manpower export from Pakistan.

“The government of Kuwait conveyed to me this decision during my recent visit,” the minister said.

He said Kuwait had banned Pakistani manpower last year because of increasing incidents of drug smuggling from Pakistan.

The minister said 289 Pakistanis were languishing in Kuwaiti jails, while the number of Pakistani prisoners in Qatar was 76, all of whom were behind the bars for petty crimes.

Mr Sarwar said Kuwait and Qatar had agreed to import more manpower of all categories from Pakistan to meet their needs.

He said he had held talks with Kuwait Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah to explore additional manpower opportunities.

The minister said Pakistan had evolved a mechanism to ensure transparency and a foolproof system for intending migrants to both the Arab countries. The government had addressed security concerns of both the countries, which were now more than willing to import Pakistani manpower to meet growing needs of their local industries, he said.

He said that around 12 million Pakistani workers had been engaged in various fields in Kuwait in the public and private sectors and their employers acknowledged their services.

The minister said the Qatar government had agreed to increase the quota of manpower for Pakistan and the two countries would sign a Memorandum of Understanding in this regard during the visit of the Amir of Qatar to Pakistan in January. He said a delegation of officials from Qatar would visit Pakistan next month to finalise the MoU.

The minister said a Pakistani delegation would visit Muscat next month to review the measures taken to prevent human smuggling.