Pakistan’s ambassador to Egypt said Pakistan should take urgent action to defend its citizen’s rights in Saudi Arabia.
Mushtaq Ali Shah said these Saudi actions are clear violation of human rights, calling on the Pakistani authorities to take appropriate measures regarding the matter.
Earlier this month, Saudi police tortured to death two transgender Pakistanis after arresting them for cross-dressings and having same-sex relationships. Police is said to have killed 35-year-old Amna, and Meeno, 26, both Pakistanis, after raiding a house in Saudi Arabia and detaining 35 transgender people.
Qamar Naseem, a feminism and social rights activist from the Blue Veins group told The Independent that the two victims, from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan, were “kicked and beaten in bags”.
Saudi Arabia also deported some 40,000 Pakistani workers over the last four months over alleged visa violations and security concerns. The kingdom plans to expel many more in the future as protests escalated over unpaid wages.
Some people believe that Saudi Arabia seeks to lay the foundation for mass deportation of Pakistani citizens by heaping unjust accusations on them.
There are a huge number of poor Pakistanis working as servants in households of rich Saudis, being often mistreated and sexually exploited. Fundamentalist Saudis deem it their sharia right to have sexual relationships with their maids working in their houses, citing verses of the holy Quran according to their own interpretation.
Pakistani religious leaders have on several occasions expressed their concerns over the conditions of Pakistanis living in Saudi Arabia, calling on the government to take appropriate actions to prevent the mistreatment of the Pakistani nationalities by Saudi authorities as well as Saudi employers.
On the other side, several prominent Saudi politicians, including Abdullah Al-Sadoun, chair of the security committee of the country’s Shura Council, have called for tougher screening processes for Pakistani nationals before they are allowed entry into the country.
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