ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was informed on Friday that about 100 Pakistani prisoners – 62 convicted and 38 under trial – are imprisoned in Iranian jails for various crimes such as drug possession and trafficking, illegal entry, murder, espionage, corruption, theft, supply/use of alcohol etc.

In a written reply to a question, the Minister for Overseas Pakistanis, Sajid Turi, said the government of Pakistan had so far not considered creating a post of Community Welfare Attaché (CWA) at Pakistan Embassy in Tehran.

The House was also informed that the total number of Pakistanis working in Iran stood at 12,992, which were registered for employment in Iran since 1971 till June 2022.

To another question, Turi told the House that 4,296,174 Pakistani workers were currently employed in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, out of whom, 2,000,000 were working in Saudi Arabia, 1,755,972 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 175,000 in Qatar, 239,023 in Oman, 68,179 in Kuwait, and 58,000 in Bahrain.

The Minister for Overseas Pakistanis also informed the House that Pakistan was in process of signing agreements with various countries for the export of manpower.

He said the countries with which the agreements were being pursued included Romania, Portugal, Denmark, Italy, Belgium, Hungary, Greece, the UK, Kuwait, Libya, and Lebanon.

He was confident that the manpower export agreements would be signed in a matter of two months, adding efforts were being made to send skilled labour to those countries.

He pointed out that the agreements for the export of manpower had already been signed with Germany, Malaysia, and Korea.

During the first half of the current year, he added, over 400,000 people were sent abroad for employment, while about 50,000 people were going to Saudi Arabia every month for employment.

Responding to a question, Turi said seven housing schemes had been completed for overseas Pakistan while more such projects would be launched for them.

Responding to calling attention notice for rising inflation in the country, Rana Ishaq, the Parliamentary Secretary for Finance, said the government was taking various measures to control price hike and provide maximum relief to the downtrodden segment of the society.

He blamed former prime minister Imran Khan’s government for rising inflation in the country which was adversely affecting the overburdened population.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022