The Lahore High Court here on Wednesday expressed dismay over lethargic approach of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in failing to confirm the nationality of 32 Pakistani detained in Afghanistan. Frustrated with the delaying tactics employed by the Ministry, the court summoned Director (Afghanistan) MFA to appear before the court on July 13, with all the records related to the Pakistani detainees at Bagram.
The court observed that the Ministry had miserably failed to comply with his earlier order to confirm the nationality of the 32 Pakistani within a month. As proceedings started on Wednesday, a representative of the Ministry submitted a report merely stating that letters had been sent to the families of detainees and a list of their names was provided to the Ministry of Interior for confirmation. "Humanitarian and security assurances are to be conveyed to US authorities after which the detainees would receive an exit visa and be repatriated, the report said.
However no concrete evidence was presented in court by the MFA to show that these steps were being taken. The court took Ministry's representative to task for inability to compile such basic details for Pakistanis who had already spent several years in Bagram. The court criticised the MFA's lack of empathy for the Pakistani detainees and their families and warned him not to force his hand as he will not shy away from holding all Ministry officials accountable.