Oct 10, 2018
There are an estimated 11,000 Pakistanis imprisoned abroad. Of these detainees, over 5,000 are in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, where 96 per cent of Pakistan’s migrant worker population is concentrated, where most remittances come from. Yet, these are the countries that have the highest population of Pakistani prisoners. The highest number of Pakistanis imprisoned abroad is in Saudi Arabia at 3,309, which also executes the most Pakistanis: 74 since 2014 and 15 so far this year, mainly for drugs. Most ‘drug smugglers’ are poor labourers or families coerced or duped by recruiting firms and agents.
Yumna Rizvi, 'The time to demand Saudi Arabia to treat Pakistani workers properly is now', Dawn
