Sixteen alleged Pakistani beggars disguised as pilgrims have been offloaded from a Saudi Arabia-bound flight and arrested for attempting to journey to the Gulf Kingdom to take pleasure in begging, based on a media report on Sunday.
The Federal Investigation Company (FIA) offloaded the beggars from the Saudi-bound flight in Multan in Punjab province two days again, the Daybreak newspaper reported.
In line with the FIA, the group comprising 16 individuals, together with a baby, 11 ladies and 4 males, was travelling on Umrah visas. The Umrah is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that may be undertaken at any time of the yr.
The FIA officers through the immigration course of questioned the passengers who confessed that they have been going to Saudi Arabia to hunt alms, the paper stated.
In addition they advised the FIA that they must give half of their earnings from begging to the brokers concerned of their journey preparations, it stated.
They have been to return to Pakistan after the expiry of their Umrah visas.
The FIA Multan circle arrested the passengers for additional interrogation and authorized motion.
The arrests got here a day after the Ministry of Abroad Pakistanis and Human Useful resource Growth disclosed to the Senate Committee on Abroad Pakistanis {that a} important proportion of beggars are trafficked overseas by way of unlawful channels.
The ministry’s secretary revealed to the Senate panel {that a} staggering 90 per cent of beggars apprehended in international nations belong to Pakistan.
Pakistani beggars journey to the Center East underneath the guise of ziyarat (pilgrimage). Most individuals go to Saudi Arabia on Umrah visas after which take pleasure in begging-related actions, Secretary Abroad Pakistanis Zeeshan Khanzada advised a gathering of the Senate’s standing committee final month.
Each the Iraqi and Saudi ambassadors have reported overcrowded jails on account of these arrests, he had stated.
A majority of the pickpockets arrested from inside Mecca’s grand mosque are Pakistani nationals, The Worldwide Information every day had quoted Khanzada as saying.
Pakistan is dealing with an unprecedented financial disaster with skyrocketing inflation amid worth rises on gas and meals fronts.