Saudi Arabia: 39K Pakistanis Deported for Immigration, Crime, Terror Offenses

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Saudi Arabia: 39K Pakistanis Deported for Immigration, Crime, Terror Offenses

February 17th, 2017

Awake Goy

The Saudi Arabian government has deported 39,000 Pakistanis back to Pakistan over the last four months because of immigration violations, criminal activity, and terrorist threats, and, since 2012, have deported over three-quarters of a million Pakistanis.

According to a report in the Saudi Gazette, which quoted “informed security sources,” the 39,000 Pakistanis have been deported in the past four months for “violating the rules of residence and work.”

The sources also said the involvement of a number of Pakistani nationals in some terrorist actions orchestrated by ISIS was “a cause of public and societal worry.”

In addition, they said a number of Pakistanis were held in the crimes of drug trafficking, thefts, forgery, and physical assault.

“Against this backdrop, Abdullah Al-Sadoun, chairman of the security committee of the Shoura Council, called for thoroughly scrutinizing the Pakistanis before they are recruited for work in the Kingdom,” the report continued.

“He asked for closer coordination with the concerned authorities in Pakistan to thoroughly check those coming to work in the Kingdom due to the involvement of a number of Pakistanis in security issues.”

Sadoun said the political and religious inclinations of the Pakistanis coming to work in the Kingdom should be known to both sides before they are recruited for work in the Kingdom.

“Pakistan itself is plagued with terrorism due to its close proximity with Afghanistan. The Taliban extremist movement was itself born in Pakistan,” he said.

Meanwhile, according to the Interior Ministry, at least 82 Pakistanis are currently being detained in Saudi prisons on terrorism charges.

At least 15 Pakistanis, including a woman, were arrested during recent anti-terrorist operations in the Al-Harazat and Al-Naseem districts in Jeddah, the report added.

The Saudi government’s Ministry pointed out that last Ramadan, a Pakistani national named Abdullah Ghulzar Khan detonated a suicide vest at the car park of the Dr. Soliman Fakheeh Hospital near the U.S. consulate in Jeddah.

He lived in Saudi Arabia for 12 years with his wife and her parents, and had entered the country with a “private driver’s visa.”

Last year, Saudi security forces had foiled a terrorist operation in which two Pakistanis, a Syrian and a Sudanese were held for plotting to blow up the Al-Jawhara Stadium in Jeddah where more than 60,000 spectators were gathered to watch a soccer match between the national teams of the Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.

The terrorists were using a booby-trapped truck loaded with 400 kg of explosives, the report concluded.

Official Saudi statistics say that 243,000 Pakistanis were deported between 2012 and 2015. According to a 2014 European University Institute report, there are approximately 900,000 Pakistanis currently employed in Saudi Arabia’s vast construction industry.

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