Syed Mussarat Khalil Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Pakistan Consulate is according top priority to the 2,513 Pakistanis detained at Shumaisy Tarheel (detention center) for final exit, a senior diplomat has said. Talking to Saudi Gazette at his office here on Sunday, Tahseemul Haq Haqqi, welfare consular, said 146 inmates are in barrack A, 1,816 in B, 201 inmates in C and 350 detainees in barrack D. In barrack H there are 20 women and children. Consul General Aftab Ahmed Khokher and Haqqi visited the deportation center and had a meeting with Dr. Mohammed Nauqly, coordinator/consul in the Makkah branch of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "We discussed several issues faced by the Pakistani community in general. The problems of detainees in Shumaisy Tarheel also came up for discussion," the consular said. A consulate team consisting of out-pass and welfare section officers is working under the guidance of Khokher, Haqqi said. He said the team members visited the deportation center and collected the necessary information and data of those not having out-passes. "We checked and confirmed their information and our representative handed over fresh out-passes to them. In a day, 50 to 100 passes were issued," he said. In order to reduce the number of Pakistani detainees at the Shumaisy Tarheel, Haqqi said the consulate has handed over about 2,000 out-passes to immigration authorities in less than a month. Pakistani inmates, he said, have been lodged in five barracks under the following categories. • Umrah and Haj overstayers. • Huroob (runaway) cases. • Cases involving violation of residency laws • Non-huroob cases. Haqqi said the consular team also met with Col. Abdul Rehman Al-Mutawee, director of immigration at Shumaisy Tarheel. "He instructed his subordinates to expedite procedures to solve problems faced by Pakistani inmates," Haqqi said.
