At least 21,951 Pakistanis have been deported from Gulf Cooperation Council states by March 1, the National Assembly has been told (Geo News).
The data was given in a written reply to a question by Hameed Hassan during Question Hour on Thursday.
The country breakdown
| Country | Deported | |—|—| | Saudi Arabia | 15,495 | | United Arab Emirates | 3,802 | | Oman | 521 | | Bahrain | 521 | | Qatar | 429 | | Kuwait | 97 | | Reported total | 20,865 | | Stated total | 21,951 |
Those six figures sum to 20,865, which is 1,086 short of the 21,951 total given.
We cannot account for the gap from the published reply. It may reflect a category of deportation not broken down by country, or an error in one of the figures as reported — the identical entries of 521 for both Oman and Bahrain are the kind of coincidence that sometimes indicates a transcription slip. The reply as reported does not explain it, and we flag it rather than presenting the arithmetic as though it closed.
What the figure covers, and what it leaves out
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, answering supplementary questions, said the figure covers only those Pakistanis formally detained by the authorities of the respective countries and deported after Pakistani missions issued them emergency travel documents.
Pakistanis who returned voluntarily, or who travelled on valid passports, are not included.
The true number of Pakistanis compelled to leave Gulf states is therefore higher than 21,951, by an amount nobody has counted.
Why they were deported
The stated reasons include violations of iqama and visa regulations, illegal stay, drug-related offences, absconding, and other breaches of immigration law.
The iqama is the residence permit that ties a migrant worker’s legal status to a named employer across the Gulf. A worker who leaves an abusive employer commonly loses legal status by that act alone, and appears in figures of this kind as an immigration violator.
Deaths abroad
Minister of State for Overseas Pakistanis Aun Chaudhry told the House that 799 Pakistani nationals died abroad during the last two years.
No breakdown by country or cause was reported alongside that number.
