Federal Investigation Agency arrests 5 Pakistanis over 'illegal emigration' to Israel

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 6 : Five Pakistanis have been arrested on allegations of "illegal emigration" to Israel, which Islamabad does not recognise as a state, Dawn reported quoting the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

All of the arrests were made in Pakistan, although there is little information available on the time of the suspects' alleged return from Israel.

The FIA stated in a tweet that the arrests were carried out by its Mirpurkhas crime circle, adding that the suspects had been working as "helpers and car washers" in Tel Aviv.

Separately, FIA Sindh (Zone-II) Director Abdul Hameed Bhutto told Dawn that the five arrested individuals were all Mirpurkhas locals who "travelled to Israel with the help of an agent, said to be an Israeli citizen."

According to the FIA statement on Twitter, each of the suspects paid the agent between PKR 300,000 and PKR 400,000 to enter Israel, whereas Bhutto indicated that they paid more than PKR 2 million to the agency to get work in Israel, as per Dawn.

Dawn is a Pakistan-based English-daily.

Bhutto said that they were arrested after an inquiry initiated by the FIA on the basis of a strategic analysis report (SAR) regarding foreign remittances.

He also said, "By travelling to a country that was not recognised, the suspects had violated multiple laws. FIRs (first information reports) have been registered against them on account of their illegal emigration to Israel, despite knowing that their passports do not validate their travel to or stay in the country for the purpose of employment."

Dawn was able to retrieve one of the FIRs, which stated that the FIA's Mirpurkhas branch recently opened an inquiry on the basis of an SAR regarding outward and inward foreign remittances concerning individuals living in Mirpurkhas, who were reportedly involved in receiving payments from Israel.

The FIR said that the suspect in this case, "was desirous to proceed to Israel for the purpose of employment," adding that he paid an agent an Israeli national and his relative PKR 300,000 for "illegal emigration" to Israel.

In return for this amount, the FIR said, the agent arranged the suspect's ticket and other documents to travel to Israel, Dawn reported.