JEDDAH — About 2,000 illegal Pakistani nationals — including a couple of women — awaiting deportation at Shumaisy detention center will be sent back home within a week. Addressing a press briefing here on Monday evening, Consul General of Pakistan Aftab Ahmed Khokher said 4,400 illegal Pakistani nationals from across the Kingdom were brought to the Shumaisy center at the end of the amnesty period on Nov. 4. Till now, Khoker said, a total of 2,400 detainees have been provided with out-passes and allowed to go back home on final exit visas. The remaining 2,000 will receive out-passes and travel documents within a week. The processes of deportation of Pakistani detainees will be completed by Saudi Arabian Airlines, he said. Khokher held the briefing soon after concluding a joint meeting at Shumaisy center between Pakistan consulate officials and visiting officials from Riyadh — Gen. Jamma'an Bin Ahmed Al-Ghamdi and Gen. Sulaiman Bin Abdul Aziz Yahiya — and detention center officials Saad Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Asker, Gen. Ibrahim and Gen. Faiz and Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative Dr. Naveed. Khokher said: "During the meeting we also discussed the issue of those outside the deportation center, like Umrah and Haj overstayers, those with expired work visas and workers in the huroob (runaway) category. It was decided that if they bring confirmed tickets at the deportation center they will be allowed to travel within 72 hours." The consul general said he has been informed by a Labor Ministry representative that the Pakistanis whose residency permit (iqama) has expired and their sponsors are not available or do not want to renew their iqamas can change their sponsorship without a no-objection certificate from the original sponsor. Earlier, the consul general shed light on the passport and welfare services of the consulate. He said about 90 percent of the community members who have applied for machine-readable passports (MRP) were not extended the facility for lack of resources. But now, he said, the government has taken special interest and doubled the capacity of services to issue MPR passports. Regarding welfare services, Khokher said, various teams from the consulate visited Briman, Makkah, Abha, Salahiya Makkah, Madinah and Taif prisons. He said approximately 700 Pakistani nationals are detained in the Western Region mostly for violation of traffic rules, theft, forgery, murder and drug-related cases. "With the cooperation of Saudi authorities, the consulate teams spoke to the prisoners and offered them all possible assistance," he said. Press Consul Sohail Ali Khan and Welfare Consul Tahseem-ul-Haq were also present at the press briefing.
