ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday told the Senate that Saudi Arabia freed a total of 7,208 Pakistani prisoners between 2019 and 2024.
The written response was made to a question from Senator Dr Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur regarding the announcement made for the release of 2,107 Pakistani prisoners in Saudi jails during the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Pakistan in 2019.
Dar informed the upper house of the parliament that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is formulating a comprehensive consular policy for Pakistanis jailed in foreign prisons.
He added that while the policy is being formulated, Pakistan continues to protect its nationals abroad through international frameworks.
“Our consular officers visit Pakistani nationals, who are in prison or under detention, and arrange legal representation for them,” said the foreign minister.
He said that Saudi Arabia freed 545 inmates in 2019, 892 in 2020, 916 in 2021, 1,331 in 2022, 1,394 in 2023, and 2,130 in 2024. The foreign minister further informed the house that it was difficult to ascertain the actual number of prisoners freed from foreign jails because of the continuous influx of inmates.
He said currently, over 23,456 Pakistani citizens are serving jail terms in different countries across the world.
ALSO READ: Saudi Aid Agency Distributes 1,450 Food Baskets in Pakistan
He further said that there are 12,156 Pakistani nationals in Saudi jails, 5,292 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 811 in Greece, and 338 in Qatar.
In February of last year, the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights directed the foreign ministry to draft a “Uniform Consular Protection Policy” within three months and seek government approval for its implementation.
During the meeting, officials from the foreign ministry reported that 23,456 Pakistani nationals were imprisoned in foreign jails, primarily in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, India, and China. Among these, at least 7,869 were identified as under-trial prisoners.