250 Pakistani prisoners repatriated from Malaysia

KARACHI (92 News) – At least 250 Pakistani prisoners arrived at Lahore Allama Iqbal International Airport from Malaysia on board a Malaysian airline flight on Sunday. According to the details garnered, all the inmates were shifted to quarantine facilities after screening for the novel coronavirus at the airport. The Pakistan High Commission in Kuala Lumpur has been making efforts to secure the release of Pakistanis languishing in jails in Malaysia. The release of the 250 prisoners is the fruition of these efforts. Pakistani High Commissioner Amina Baloch said three flights will repatriate Pakistani inmates from Malaysia before Eidul Fitr. Earlier, PIA plane carrying 113 Pakistanis imprisoned in Malaysia landed at Islamabad airport. In a statement, Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari said that the welfare of overseas Pakistanis is the top priority of the government. He said that the arrangement of a special plane to bring back the Pakistanis from Malaysia is a good step. In May 2019, a special flight had brought back 320 Pakistanis stranded in Malaysia mainly due to the closure of eastern airspace of Pakistan for foreign airlines. The flight landed at the Islamabad International Airport at 10.10pm, over 45 minutes behind the schedule, as their friends and relatives sitting on the floor waited for the deportees. Some of the Pakistanis brought back to Islamabad on the special flight were detained by the Malysian authorities as their tickets expired after the closure of Pakistan airspace.