ISLAMABAD: As many as 21,951 Pakistanis have been deported from Gulf countries between March 1, and July 13, 2026 for numerous reasons including overstaying, begging, illegal entries, drugs, refused asylum, forged documentation and security reasons among others.

This was the written response from the Ministry for Narcotics Control in response to questions raised by MNA Hameed Hussain during the Question hour of the National Assembly on Thursday.

As many as 4,628 absconders were deported, besides 1,294 jailed, 968 blacklisted, 1,155 were deportation cases pertaining to lost passports, and 689 Pakistanis were deported for visa violations and 342 were cases of refused entries into the Gulf States.

The highest numbers of Pakistanis were deported from Saudi Arabia, almost 15,500, while United Arab Emirates deported 3,803 Pakistanis, Oman 1,606, Bahrain 521, Qatar 429 and Kuwait deported 97 Pakistanis.

However, some 6,662 Pakistanis were deported from Gulf States under the “Others” heading. In the written response, the Ministry of Interior did not specify offences under “Others”. As many as 472 Pakistani beggars were also deported from the Gulf countries.

Nine Pakistanis were deported from the UAE through the Interpol, while the Gulf States deported several others after refusing them onwards travel, besides imposters, expired iqamas and passports, for theft, war zone, imposters, besides committing violations of immigration laws.

Saudi Arabia deported the highest numbers of absconders – 3,921, followed by UAE which expelled 636 Pakistanis. Saudi Arabia also deported 1, 924 Pakistani nationals for over/illegal/entry/stay, while UAE and Oman deported 347 and 295 for the above mentioned offences.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2026