Media Wire

Islamabad claims 50,000 Pakistani pilgrims disappeared in Iraq

Almost 50,000 Pakistani pilgrims have disappeared in Iraq, Islamabad's minister for religious affairs has claimed.

Chaudhry Salik Hussain revealed the figures at a Pakistani Senate committee meeting, without elaborating on the timescale or nature of the disappearances.

Millions of foreign pilgrims travel to Iraq every year, primarily for Shia Muslim religious festivals on Arbaeen, Tasua and Ashura.

The Arbaeen pilgrimage, marking the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS), is arguably the largest gathering in the world, sometimes attracting as many as 22 million people.

Members of Pakistan’s Shia minority are among those who regularly take part in the pilgrimage.

Ahmed al-Asadi, Iraq’s labour and social affairs minister, has said in a statement that his government would be investigating the reports and implied that those missing were working illegally in the country.

“Iraq has witnessed the influx of tourists from various countries during the past days, including Pakistanis, but many of them have begun to engage in the labour market without the required legal permits,” he added, according to the Iraqi News Agency.

“Iraq welcomes all tourists, whether for religious tourism or otherwise, from all over the world, but stresses the need to respect local laws and regulations.”

A report by the UN said that in 2020, there were 688 Pakistanis living in Iraq, but comments by officials imply a much larger number.

Earlier this month, Pakistan and Iraq signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at making it easier for Pakistanis to acquire work visas for Iraq.

At the time, Hussain stated the MoU would “also increase legal immigration and reduce illegal entry into Iraq”.

IFP Media Wire

Reports and views published in the Media Wire section have been retrieved from other news agencies and websites, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website. The IFP may change the headlines of the reports in a bid to make them compatible with its own style of covering Iran News, and does not make any changes to the content. The source and URL of all reports and news stories are mentioned at the bottom of each article.

Recent Posts

Historic all-Women flight lands in Mashhad

For the first time in Iran's aviation history, a flight carrying an all-female crew and…

9 hours ago

Tehran Cyber Police shut down 40 Instagram accounts of harassers

Tehran’s Cyber Police Chief, Brigadier General Davood Moazzami Goudarzi, announced a crackdown on individuals causing…

11 hours ago

Qatar warns may stop gas shipments to EU amid Russia-Ukraine war

Doha will stop gas shipments to the EU if member states enforce new legislation on…

11 hours ago

UK armed forces struggling for recruits: Telegraph

At least 15,000 British soldiers left the country's Armed Forces between November 2023 and October…

11 hours ago

Nearly 85k Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine: Report

Journalists have identified the names of 84,761 Russian soldiers who died during the war in…

15 hours ago

US downs own warplane while bombing Yemen: Pentagon

The United States Navy has inadvertently shot down its own F/A-18 fighter jet in a…

16 hours ago