'More than 57% Pakistanis imprisoned abroad can be brought back'.

ISLAMABAD -- Executions of Pakistani prisoners and their number in foreign jails has increased due to the lack of a uniform consular protection policy, according to a report issued by the Justice Project of Pakistan.

The highest increase in the number of Pakistani inmates was reported in Gulf countries. In Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the number increased from 1,506 to 3,248 and 1,800 to 2,600, respectively.

More than 57 per cent of Pakistanis imprisoned abroad are serving their sentences and can be brought back through prisoner transfer agreements. The lack of adequate consular assistance results in harsher sentences for these prisoners, the JPP report added.

'The majority of these prisoners have been arrested for non-lethal crimes such as drug trafficking, theft and violations of local immigration laws.'

The detained Pakistanis also suffer due to process violations such as long periods of detention without charge or trial. They have no access to legal assistance and are unable to navigate through the Saudi criminal justice system, it also said.

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'These Pakistanis are doubly vulnerable, considering their country of origin does not have a uniform consular protection policy, leaving them at the mercy of local courts which are notorious for failing to meet international standards for a fair trial.

'They have to spend indefinite periods in detention due to the absence of prisoner transfer agreements. 56.53 per cent of overseas Pakistani prisoners that have been convicted, can be brought back if the Government of Pakistan negotiates prisoner transfer agreements (PTA) with the host countries,' the report stated.

However, the 'absence of such accords with host countries along with the ineffectiveness of present agreements has made the repatriation of these prisoners harder if not impossible', the report said.

It also stated that Pakistanis convicted for drug offences are particularly vulnerable to being...