Not in INDIA, thousands of Pakistanis languishing in jails of Turkey, Azerbaijan for committing crimes like...

Though Pakistan is known for its support of terrorism, its citizens are languishing in jails across the world. Ironically, most of them are not lodged in the jails in India, with which Islamabad has strained relations since its birth. Most Pakistanis are also not languishing in jails in Afghanistan, with which its relations are worsening now. Most of the Pakistani prisoners have been lodged in Saudi Arabia, with which Islamabad has a very good relationship. It became evident when Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the country's National Assembly that over 23,000 Pakistanis are behind bars in several countries across the world on account of far and wide-ranging crimes.

23,456 Pakistanis in foreign jails

According to Pakistan's prestigious newspaper, 'Dawn', 23,456 Pakistanis are currently behind bars overseas, with the largest number of inmates, 12,156, being held in Saudi Arabia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made this statement in Pakistan's parliament during the question hour. In a written reply, the ministry added that the United Arab Emirates holds the second-highest number of Pakistani inmates, totaling 5,292.

Pakistanis in Chinese jails

According to the report published by the 'Dawn', 400 Pakistanis were imprisoned in China, most of them were convicted over the cases of drug smuggling, rape, robbery, murder, and counterfeit currency cases. Dawn reported that 450 Pakistanis imprisoned in Bahrain were convicted of drug trafficking, possession of drugs and fraud. Afghanistan had convicted 88 Pakistanis of overstaying and security-related offences.

Crimes Pakistanis commit

In other countries of West Asia, the track record of Pakistanis continued to remain poor as in Qatar, 338 Pakistanis were sentenced for theft, murder, narcotics, money laundering, rape, and financial frauds, while Oman convicted 309 in drug trafficking, murder, robbery, and sexual assault cases. Dawn said that Malaysia convicted 255 Pakistanis for similar offences besides illegal entry. The matters continued to worsen across several European countries.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said in the National Assembly that of the European nations, Austria shared that Pakistanis were held for cases of illegal entry, human and drug trafficking and murder, besides sexual harassment, were convicted, however, the number was not provided. Dawn said that while Norway did not share details of charges against three Pakistanis detained, Finland had convicted two Pakistanis but did not share details of the offences.

How many Pakistanis in Azerbaijan, Turkish jails?

Azerbaijan has emerged as one of the closest allies of Pakistan in the recent clashes with India. However,  in Azerbaijan, 11 out of 16 prisoners were sentenced for murder, human and, drug trafficking, illegal entry, while five were under trial. Dawn added that in Turkiye, 147 prisoners were convicted and 161 were under trial for various offences, such as drug and human trafficking, sexual assault, and child abuse. France and Germany had convicted 168 and 94 Pakistanis, respectively. Other countries where Pakistanis were imprisoned included nine in Canada, 27 in Denmark.