40,000 missing pilgrims claim a myth, Senate panel told

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development was informed on Tuesday that reports of 40,000 Pakistani pilgrims having gone missing in Iraq were incorrect.

Committee Chairman Senator Zeeshan Khanzada presided over the meeting, where Senator Raja Nasir Abbas clarified that the reports had been exaggerated.

“I met the Prime Minister of Iraq, and he termed these reports wrong. I also spoke to the Minister for Religious Affairs of Pakistan, who said the same. It was a mistake,” he told the committee.

Officials from the Ministry of Interior informed the committee that only 27 Pakistanis had been detained in Iraq, while a total of 30 out of 81 were currently under trial.

Senator Abbas raised another concern, saying Pakistani passports were being confiscated at airports in different countries, including Iraq.

Read More: Pakistan bars pilgrims from traveling to Iran, Iraq via Balochistan for ‘Arbaeen’

“This is a great insult to Pakistani citizens, and the government should take notice. Such treatment is not even extended to Afghan nationals,” he said. Ministry officials assured that the matter would be taken up diplomatically.

The committee was also briefed on the status of Pakistani nationals imprisoned abroad. According to the Interior Ministry, there are currently 21,647 Pakistanis in prisons across various countries. Of them, more than 13,000 are under trial, while over 8,000 have been convicted.

PTI’s newly elected Senator Faisal Javed also attended the meeting.