Fifty-two Pakistani immigrants deported by the US have arrived here by a special chartered flight amid tight security, a media report said Thursday.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi informed theNational Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs on Tuesday that USauthorities detained and prosecuted the Pakistani nationals for immigrationviolations, criminal conduct and other serious charges. Dawn newspaper, quoting immigration sources,reported that 53 Pakistanis were scheduled to be deported, but only 52 peoplearrived on Wednesday as one person fell sick at the US airport and was not sentback.
US security officials were guarding the Pakistani deporteeswhen they arrived at the Islamabad International Airport on a special charteredflight. Soon after landing, they asked the Pakistani authorities to takecustody of the deportees who had been arrested by the US police.
The Trump administration recently launched a crackdown onthe foreigners who stayed in the US even after the expiry of their visas. The52 Pakistanis were among those who overstayed in the US, the report said.
A senior official of the Federal Investigation Agency saidthe deportees were allowed to go after verification of their travel documents.The official parried a question about the fate of those involved in pettycrimes and deported by the US, the report said.
Qureshi had also confirmed that the US denied visas to threesenior Pakistani officials following a row between the two countries overdeportation of dozens of Pakistanis in America for their visa overstay andother allegations.
The Pakistani officials who faced US visa restrictions arean additional secretary, a joint secretary of the interior ministry and thedirector general passports, the minister said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, ninePakistani illegal immigrants deported from Greece were taken into custody aftertheir arrival at Islamabad International Airport by a separate flight andshifted to the FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Cell.
The FIA official said the deportees were kept at the cell’sjail for further legal proceeding as they had gone to Europe through land routeand were later caught by the Greek authorities. He said that since the nine deportees belongedto Gujrat district in Punjab province, they would be shifted to FIA Gujranwalafor further legal proceeding.