RAWALPINDI: As many as 20 illegal immigrants were deported by the Saudi authorities and arrived at the Islamabad International Airport. Two of them were taken into custody by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for leaving the country illegally.

A senior FIA official said the 20 Pakistanis were arrested by the Saudi authorities for staying in the kingdom illegally and were sent back amid tight security on a scheduled flight on Saturday.

After the verification process, 18 of the deportees were allowed to go home and two were taken to the FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Cell for legal proceedings as the Pakistani authorities did not have their travel records.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2019