Prisoner transfer deal with Pakistan to be finalised
Pakistan requests UAE for grace period to convert passports into machine-readable ones.
Abu Dhabi: The UAE and Pakistan are in talks to finalise an agreement to transfer prisoners between the two countries.
This was discussed during a meeting between Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and A. Rehman Malek, the Pakistani Minister of Interior, in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Malek told Gulf News on Tuesday in an exclusive interview that Pakistan requested the UAE to grant a one year grace period to convert all Pakistani handwritten passports into machine readable passports (MRPs).
As Gulf News reported on September 15, the UAE had stopped issuing visas to Pakistanis holding handwritten passports, as part of the measures to control fake passports .
Serving terms
"The Pakistani cabinet will endorse an agreement on prisoners within a couple of weeks and the agreement will be signed by the two countries soon," Malek said.
"I have invited Shaikh Saif to visit Pakistan for signing the agreement," he said.
It will enable around 2,500 Pakistani inmates in the UAE to serve their sentences in their home country, the minister said.
A few Emirati prisoners [the number was not readily available] who are in Pakistani jails will also be able to serve their sentences in UAE jails, he said.
Asked about the details of the criminal charges against Pakistani inmates in the UAE jails, he said they have been involved in several types of crimes, including petty crimes but details were not readily available with him.
Most of the Emirati convicts in Pakistani jails had been arrested in Pakistan after committing some sorts of crimes in the UAE and fleeing the country, Malek said.
"But the exact number of UAE inmates and nature of the charges against them are not readily available with me," he said.
As Gulf News reported recently the UAE and India are also negotiating a similar agreement on transferring the prisoners.
gulfnews : Prisoner transfer deal with Pakistan to be finalised
Pakistan requests UAE for grace period to convert passports into machine-readable ones.
Abu Dhabi: The UAE and Pakistan are in talks to finalise an agreement to transfer prisoners between the two countries.
This was discussed during a meeting between Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and A. Rehman Malek, the Pakistani Minister of Interior, in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Malek told Gulf News on Tuesday in an exclusive interview that Pakistan requested the UAE to grant a one year grace period to convert all Pakistani handwritten passports into machine readable passports (MRPs).
As Gulf News reported on September 15, the UAE had stopped issuing visas to Pakistanis holding handwritten passports, as part of the measures to control fake passports .
Serving terms
"The Pakistani cabinet will endorse an agreement on prisoners within a couple of weeks and the agreement will be signed by the two countries soon," Malek said.
"I have invited Shaikh Saif to visit Pakistan for signing the agreement," he said.
It will enable around 2,500 Pakistani inmates in the UAE to serve their sentences in their home country, the minister said.
A few Emirati prisoners [the number was not readily available] who are in Pakistani jails will also be able to serve their sentences in UAE jails, he said.
Asked about the details of the criminal charges against Pakistani inmates in the UAE jails, he said they have been involved in several types of crimes, including petty crimes but details were not readily available with him.
Most of the Emirati convicts in Pakistani jails had been arrested in Pakistan after committing some sorts of crimes in the UAE and fleeing the country, Malek said.
"But the exact number of UAE inmates and nature of the charges against them are not readily available with me," he said.
As Gulf News reported recently the UAE and India are also negotiating a similar agreement on transferring the prisoners.
gulfnews : Prisoner transfer deal with Pakistan to be finalised