Pakistan is known for exporting terrorism and India has been a victim of it. Pakistan also used to export donkeys to China. Adding to the unusual list of Pakistan’s exports are beggars. The problem has become so severe that countries like Saudi Arabia and Iraq have now requested the Pakistani government to stop the flow of beggars. Saudi authorities have expressed their concern to Islamabad about the increasing rate of beggars entering the kingdom under the guise of religious pilgrimage. Pakistan was told that if the situation is not controlled, it will have a negative impact on the country’s Umrah and Hajj pilgrims.
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Government will bring Umrah Act
In response, Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs is introducing an Umrah Act, which will regulate travel agencies facilitating these religious pilgrimages and bring them under the legal ambit. Interestingly, this is not the first time Saudi Arabia has raised concerns on the matter. Last year too, Saudi Arabia had warned Islamabad about the increasing number of beggars entering Saudi Arabia during the Hajj pilgrimage.
Most pickpockets inside Mecca’s Grand Mosque are Pakistanis
Secretary of Overseas Pakistanis Zeeshan Khanzada had said that 90 per cent of all beggars detained in West Asian countries are from Pakistan and these beggars are lodged in jails in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Pakistan’s Geo News Urdu quoted Khanzada as saying that the ambassadors of Iraq and Saudi Arabia have told us that Pakistani beggars travel abroad on Umrah visas under the guise of ziyarat (pilgrimage) and later engage in begging on the streets. He also said that most of the pickpockets arrested from inside Mecca’s Grand Mosque are Pakistani nationals, The News International reported.
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90 percent of beggars are from Pakistan
According to a report in Pakistan’s The Express Tribune, the committee was informed about the presence of 1,600,000 Pakistanis in the United Arab Emirates and 200,000 in Qatar. Earlier also Saudi officials had asked Pakistan to be careful while selecting candidates for the Haj quota. Saudi Arabia said that 90 percent of the beggars arrested are from Pakistan. These people are on Umrah visa. Saudi Arabia also slammed Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Zeeshan Khanzada for sending repeat offenders.
