The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said it had arrested five Pakistanis on Wednesday on allegations of “illegal emigration” to Israel, which Islamabad does not recognise as a state.

All of the arrests were made in Pakistan, but scarce information is available regarding the timing of the suspects’ purported return from Israel.

The FIA said in a tweet that its Mirpurkhas crime circle carried out the arrests, stating that the suspects had been working in Tel Aviv as “helpers and car washers”.

Separately, FIA Sindh (Zone-II) Director Abdul Hameed Bhutto told Dawn.com that all five of the arrested men were residents of Mirpurkhas who “travelled to Israel with the help of an agent, said to be an Israeli citizen”.

The FIA statement on Twitter said that each of the suspects paid the agent Rs300,000 to Rs400,000 to enter Israel while Bhutto stated that they paid over Rs2m to the agent to get employment in Israel.

Their arrests were a result of an inquiry initiated by the FIA on the basis of a strategic analysis report (SAR) regarding foreign remittances, Bhutto said.

“By travelling to a country that was not recognised, the suspects had violated multiple laws.

“FIRs (first information reports) have been registered against them on account of their illegal emigration to Israel, despite knowing that their passports do not validate their travel to or stay in the country for the purpose of employment,” he added.

The official further said that the FIA had invoked Sections 8 (regulation of emigration) and 17(1) (punishment for unlawful emigration) of the Emigration Ordinance, 1917, Sections 3 (prohibition of departure from Pakistan without passport, etc) and 4 (Punishment for contravention of section 3, etc) of the Passport Act 1974 and Section 109 (punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment) of the Pakistan Penal Code in cases against the suspect.

Dawn.com was able to access one of the FIRs, which said that the FIA’s Mirpurkhas branch recently initiated an inquiry on the basis of an SAR regarding outward and inward foreign remittances concerning individuals living in Mirpurkhas, who were allegedly involved in receiving remittances from Israel.

The suspect in this case, “was desirous to proceed to Israel for the purpose of employment,” the FIR added, adding that he paid an agent — an Israeli national and his relative — Rs300,000 for “illegal emigration” to Israel.

In exchange for this amount, the FIR said, the agent arranged the suspect’s ticket and other documents for the travel.

It added that the suspect departed from the Karachi airport for Kenya on November 15, 2016 for Kenya “on the strength of Pakistani passport” and entered Kenya “on the strength of a visit visa”.

The FIR further stated that the suspect left Kenya on November 17, 2016 and “proceeded to Israel through the Jordon Airport along with agent … and took illegal entry into the Tel Aviv city of Israel for the purpose of employment, despite knowing the fact that Pakistani passport is not valid for Israel as Israel is non-recognised state by the Government of Pakistan”.

According to the FIR, the suspect worked as a car washer in Israel, “in clear violation of the Emigration Ordinance 1979, and returned back to Pakistan on December 18, 2019 on the strength of the same Pakistani passport using the route of Jordan, Dubai and then Karachi”.

He returned “after working there (Israel) for about four years by way of illegal emigration,” the FIR read.

It added that during his travel and stay in Israel, the suspect remained a holder of the Pakistani passport, “which was not valid for Israel in violation of the Passport Act of 1974”.

“The accused person … while working in Israel, used to send his salaries in the form of foreign remittances through the Western Union of Pakistan post office, Mirpurkhas, which were accordingly received by his relatives residing in Mirpurkhas, Sindh,” the FIR stated.

Meanwhile, an FIA spokesperson told Dawn.com that the FIA had identified a total of eight suspects from Pakistan who were working in Israel and three of them were still at large.