Monday, 18 October 2004 |
World |
News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries |
More than 1,200 deported Pakistanis return home from Oman KARACHI, Sunday (AFP) More than 1,200 Pakistanis deported from Oman for illegal entry arrived here Saturday, many complaining of bad treatment at jails in the Gulf nation, immigration officials and rights activists said. The group was the latest in a stream of Pakistanis to be expelled from Gulf countries for entering or being there illegally. "We have received 1,201 Pakistanis who were sent back by Oman for entering the country illegally," Iqbal Mehmood, deputy director of the Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency's immigration department, told AFP. Most of the returnees, who arrived by ship, appeared in a bad shape and complained of maltreatment during their imprisonment in Oman, he said. "They put us in an inhuman and unhealthy environment and we were not provided with the legal help we deserved," said one of them, labourer Mohammad Akram. "We were not given proper food and the attitude of prison authorities was very humiliating," said another, Shaukat Ali. "We did an illegal thing, but after all we are human beings and deserved better treatment." |
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |