Iranian security forces deported 71 Pakistanis and handed over them to the Levies force at Pak-Iran borders in Taftan area of Chaghi district on Monday.

The Levies officials said these Pakistani workers had been apprehended from different parts of Iran by Iranian security forces because they were living there without proper traveling documents.

They would be handed over to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for further interrogation after completing initial inquiry, the officials said.

A report quoting statistics issued by the FIA last month revealed that nearly 250,000 Pakistanis were deported from various countries during the years 2012-2015.

The "Labour Migration from Pakistan: 2015 Status Report" showed that a total of 242,817 Pakistanis were deported over the time period, according to the FIA's deportation statistics.

The year with the highest number of Pakistani deportees is 2014 with 73,064 deportees, whereas 2010 has the smallest number at 46,032.

Irregular Pakistani migrants deported between 2012-15

• Saudi Arabia: 131,643
• United Arab Emirates: 32,458
• Iran: 28,684
• Oman: 17,248
• Greece: 14,145
• United Kingdom: 9,778
• Malaysia: 8,861

The report said that around 513,231 individuals were deported from different countries from 2007 to June 2015, suggesting an upward trend over time which may be indicative of an increase in the human trafficking and smuggling of migrants.

A study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has found that the majority of irregular migration involved migrants originating from Punjab, especially from Gujrat, Gujranwala, Mandi Bahauddin, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan and Sialkot.