The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday summoned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' section officer along with the details of efforts made by it to repatriate Pakistani female prisoners languishing in the United Arab Emirates penitentiaries. A division bench had taken up a petition filed by the Sarim Burney Trust International through its administrator Rashida Shakir, who moved the court seeking repatriation of Pakistani female prisoners in prisons of the United Arab Emirates.
The petitioner's counsel submitted that former interior minister Rehman Malik had struck an agreement with his UAE counterpart in February 2012 for the repatriation of Pakistani prisoners languishing in the UAE jails for different crimes. However, since the inking of an agreement no practical steps have been taken by the government for the repatriation of prisoners, particularly female prisoners, to Pakistan.
The counsel said that his trust had received emails from nine Pakistani female prisoners asking it to pursue their cases of repatriation. Those who emailed included Shamim Akhtar, Fashola Rohi, Sehrish Kazmi, Nazia Jahangir, Taiba Rani, Asma Ghulam, Sajida Farzand, Barkat Bibi and Salma.