Saudi Arabia's Deportation of 24,000 Pakistanis: A Blow to Reputation and Human Dignity

Saudi Arabia's Deportation of 24,000 Pakistanis: A Blow to Reputation and Human Dignity

Saudi Arabia has deported more than 24,000 Pakistani nationals this year, and the reasons given—organised begging and visa abuse, particularly around Mecca and Medina—have caused serious embarrassment for Pakistan. Behind the numbers lies a grimmer story about poverty, exploitation, and the lengths desperate people will go to when they see no future at home.

Most of those deported had travelled on Umrah or tourist visas, supposedly for religious pilgrimage, but were caught begging in the streets. Saudi authorities take a dim view of this, seeing it as both a violation of the pilgrimage's sanctity and evidence of organised criminal networks preying on vulnerable people. The scale of the deportations suggests this isn't just a few bad apples—it's a systemic problem.

Pakistan isn't alone in this. The UAE has sent back around 6,000 Pakistanis, mostly for begging or suspected criminal activity. Azerbaijan deported roughly 2,500. Pakistan's own Federal Investigation Agency stopped more than 50,000 people at airports this year for failing basic immigration checks. Put together, these figures suggest something deeply wrong: a combination of desperation at home and ruthless exploitation by middlemen abroad.

For Pakistan, the damage is twofold. Internationally, the country is starting to look like a source of visa fraud and petty crime. At home, the deportations lay bare the poverty and unemployment that push people into such risky ventures. Many of those deported were likely lied to by agents who promised easy money abroad. Instead, they've come home humiliated, with nothing to show for it but debt and shame.

This isn't just about statistics. It's about real people—men and women who saw no future where they were and took a desperate gamble. It's about the perversion of something sacred, where the pilgrimage to Mecca was turned into a cover for begging. And it's about Pakistan's urgent need to protect its own people, both by cracking down on fraudulent agents and by creating real opportunities at home so fewer feel compelled to leave in the first place.

Saudi Arabia has made its position clear: if Pakistan doesn't sort this out, stricter controls are coming, which will make life harder for genuine pilgrims and workers alike. The challenge now is for Pakistan to restore trust, protect its citizens, and tackle the poverty that drives such desperate behaviour. Deportations may solve Saudi Arabia's immediate problem, but they expose a deeper crisis that Pakistan can no longer afford to ignore.