Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Taking notice of the hardships of overseas Pakistanis living in Gulf countries in obtaining passports, the Federal Ombudsman Secretariat has directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports to submit their reports by May 31, 2016.

The directions by the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat came after an overseas Pakistani living in Saudi Arabia filed a complaint regarding the hardships faced during the process of acquiring a passport from the Pakistan Embassy in Saudi Arabia. It was observed that several other complainants living in different countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had also filed similar complaints against the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports. They pleaded that they had to travel for long hours and had to stand in long queues for getting their passports from Pakistani embassies. They also said that despite knowing the fact that a large number of Pakistanis were living in the Gulf countries the strength and equipment of the passport department had not been increased. This resulted in a delay in the issuance of passports. The complainants also pleaded that no proper sitting arrangements had been made inside and outside the embassies and said that this problem needed to be addressed on a priority basis.

Hafiz Ahsan Ahmed Khokhar, Senior Advisor (Law) and Grievance Commissioner for Overseas Pakistanis took prompt action and directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports to submit a report on the issue along with the action taken for the redressal of overseas Pakistanis grievances. The countries include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Muscat. The senior officials of Foreign Affairs and the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports have been asked to attend the hearing today (Tuesday).