18,000 Pakistanis languish in foreign prisons: Senate body criticise ministry’s half-baked efforts

ISLAMABAD: A Senate committee was left stunned on Friday after it was revealed that over 18,000 Pakistanis are languishing in foreign prisons, with little to no support from the government meant to protect them.

Presided over by Senator Zeeshan Khanzada, the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development was confronted with stark and troubling statistics: 417 Pakistanis imprisoned in China, 598 in Greece, 463 in Malaysia, 738 in India, 578 in Oman, 422 in Qatar, 5,297 in the UAE and a staggering 10,432 locked up in Saudi Arabia alone.

The senator did not mince words, criticising the ministry’s half-baked efforts and accusing officials of offering vague, incomplete data. “This is not just a number. These are human lives,” he said. “The government’s apathy is disgraceful.”

Despite repeated claims, there appears to be little meaningful action. While the ministry boasted about finalising prisoner repatriation agreements with 11 countries and ongoing discussions with 15 more, the committee demanded more than just diplomatic lip service.

It urged the government to provide comprehensive profiles of the prisoners, detailing the nature of their alleged offences and the extent – or glaring absence – of legal assistance being provided to them.

Even more glaring was the spotlight on the ineffectiveness of Pakistan’s Community Welfare Attachés (CWAs) – officials stationed overseas to safeguard the interests of Pakistani expatriates.

The committee grilled the ministry on how frequently these attachés visit imprisoned citizens and what concrete assistance they actually deliver.

The responses, however, were vague at best, exposing a disturbing reality of CWAs pocketing hefty salaries after their appointments through political connections, all while failing to provide any meaningful support.

Senator Kazim Ali Shah was blunt: “There are zero welfare services for prisoners from Sindh. What exactly are these attachés doing besides drawing salaries?”

Branding the CWAs a complete embarrassment and utter failure, the committee slammed their lacklustre performance and demanded they be held rigorously accountable through quarterly reviews.

It also insisted they recruit local diasporas members to actually do some real work; exposing just how out of touch and ineffective this bloated, politically-appointed system has become.

Meanwhile, hollow promises to support Overseas Pakistanis through special courts also came under fire during the meeting. Officials boasted that Punjab passed the relevant legislation last year, but Senator Shahadat Awan tore into the lack of transparency, absence of crucial data, and the glaring failure to establish even basic infrastructure like evidence-recording facilities.

“This law exists only on paper,” he remarked. “It is yet another PR stunt while overseas Pakistanis wait endlessly for justice.”

The ministry was given one month to produce a detailed report on pending court cases involving overseas Pakistanis – a move seen by many as long overdue.

In a final attempt to salvage the session, the ministry officials listed a few initiatives: a five per cent quota in universities for children of expatriates and a pilot scheme in London to resolve property disputes through the Punjab Land Record Authority.

The committee, unimpressed, advised the government to extend the property project to Islamabad but also warned that unless these initiatives move beyond announcements, overseas Pakistanis will continue to feel abandoned by their own country.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025