23,456 Pakistanis are jailed abroad, Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights informed

23,456 Pakistanis are jailed abroad, the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights was informed on Wednesday.

The foreign ministry presented data on Pakistani prisoners held abroad during the meeting, chaired by Waleed Iqbal.

According to the data, 23,456 Pakistani nationals are currently imprisoned in foreign countries, including 15,587 convicts and 7,869 under-trial prisoners.

The highest number of Pakistani prisoners is reported to be in Saudi Arabia, where 12,156 Pakistani nationals languished in different jails. 

While a majority of Pakistani nationals are in the second number, 5,292 prisoners, are locked up in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) jails.

Meanwhile, 706 Pakistanis are currently held in Indian jails.

The ministry informed that 338 Pakistanis are held in Qatar, 519 in Iraq, 450 in Bahrain, 59 in Kuwait, 308 in Turkey, 255 in Malaysia, 88 in Afghanistan, 100 in Iran and 400 in China.

In Europe, 811 Pakistani citizens were imprisoned in Greece, 330 in Great Britain, 330 in Italy, and 44 in the United States.

As reported, Pakistan holds a prisoner exchange agreement with 11 countries, including Azerbaijan, China, Iran, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, the UAE and the United Kingdom.

The committee during the briefing discussed the Prisoner Transfer Agreement and directed the foreign ministry to make a uniform consular protection policy within 90 days.

The Senate committee also directed the foreign ministry to release the details of the Prisoner Transfer Agreement with various countries on its website.