Kochi: Saudi Arabia topped the list of countries which deported thousands of Pakistanis in a bid to put a brake on organised begging and criminal activity abroad, NDTV reported.
Saudi Arabia has deported 24,000 Pakistanis over allegations of begging this year, while the UAE has imposed visa restrictions on most Pakistani citizens.
Dubai sent back about 6,000 individuals, while Azerbaijan deported roughly 2,500 Pakistani beggars.
This has brought embarrassment for Pakistan which is struggling to prevent people using visiting visas to travel to different countries to engage in organised begging.
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency Director General Riffat Mukhtar said such cases were detected involving travel to Africa and Europe, Cambodia and Thailand.
In 2024, Riyadh formally urged Pakistan to prevent beggars from exploiting Umrah visas to travel to Mecca and Medina.
Attorney Rafia Zakaria wrote in Dawn last year that begging was a highly structured enterprise rather than an act of desperation.
“One industry in Pakistan that seems to be very organised and has been quite successful in ensuring that its recruits have plenty to do is the begging industry, she wrote in Dawn.
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