The upper house of parliament was informed on Wednesday that 2,396 Pakistani nationals were detained in Turkey’s detention centres for illegal immigration.
In response to the question of Senator Rana Mahmoodul Hassan, the Senate was apprised that the number of detained Pakistanis kept on varying depending on the number of Pakistanis entering Turkey illegally.
Responding to a question raised by Senator Talha Mehmood, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Khan Swati informed the house that the government is fully seized of the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui and had consistently raised her case with US authorities, including possibility of her repatriation to Pakistan.
Govt urged to tackle illegal migration to Turkey on war footing
Swati added that the Pakistan’s consul general in Houston also pays a regular visit to Dr Aafia.
She has been behind bars since 2010 on charges of attempted murder and mounting an assault on US military personnel and is serving an 86-year sentence at the Federal Medical Centre, Carswell, Fort Worth in Texas.
A request had been made by Islamabad to Washington for exploring possibilities of accession to Inter-American Convention Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad, 1993 to serve as the platform for negotiating options of repatriation of the detained doctor, said the parliamentary affairs minister.
He further briefed the Senate that the appeal against the sentence could only be filed by the convict as per the requirement of the US law, adding that during the consular visit on April 18 this year Dr Aafia showed her willingness to file an appeal against her sentence.
SOURCE: Tribune Pakistan
