1 (48Th Session) NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SECRETARIAT
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1 (48th Session) NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SECRETARIAT ————— “QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWERS AND THEIR REPLIES” to be asked at a sitting of the National Assembly to be held on Friday, the 14th December, 2012 (Originally Starred Question No. 19 was set down for answer during the 47th Session) 19. *Dr. Muhammad Ayub Sheikh: Will the Minister for Foreign Affairs be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that some Pakistanis are imprisoned in the jails of Bosnia at present; (b) if so, the nature of allegations levelled against them? Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar): (a) & (b) As per information provided by our Mission in Sarajevo; no Pakistani national is imprisoned in the jails of Bosnian at present. 68. *Ms. Shireen Arshad Khan: Will the Minister for Foreign Affairs be pleased to state whether the government has registered any protest on diplomatic level against the Israeli attack made on empty handed and innocent Muslims of Palestine during the November, 2012; if so, the details thereof? Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar): Pakistan has registered protest at the UN Security Council and had issued a Press Release that strongly condemned the Israeli air attacks on. Gaza and that inter-alia, called upon the international community to come together to stop the Israeli aggression forthwith and to work in unison for a peaceful resolution of this festering issue. A copy of the Press Release is enclosed. 2 Annexure Pakistan condemns Israeli air strikes in Gaza Pakistan has consistently extended unequivocal and unreserved support to the Palestinian cause. Pakistan believes that unless the Palestinian problem is resolved, peace in the Middle East will remain elusive. We support the quest of the state of Palestine for membership of the United Nations and we believe that Palestine cannot be denied this right anymore. Pakistan strongly condemns Israeli air attacks in Gaza that have targeted not only the Hamas leadership but also innocent civilians. Israeli threats of a ground offensive against Gaza are even more disturbing. We are also deeply concerned that an escalation in the violence could lead to a spreading of the conflict to engulf the region. Pakistan considers the Israeli action as a grave violation of international law and all humanitarian norms. We call upon the international community to come together to stop the Israeli aggression forthwith and to work in unison for a peaceful resolution of this festering issue. Islamabad, 16 November 2012. 69. *Ms. Shireen Arshad Khan: Will the Minister for Foreign Affairs be pleased to state: (a) the country-wise total number of Pakistanis are imprisoned abroad except Bosnia at present; and (b) the steps taken by the Government for their release during the last four years till date? Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar): (a) The country-wise total number of Pakistanis imprisoned abroad, except Bosnia, at present is as under:— —————————————————————————————— Name of Country No. of Pakistani Prisoners —————————————————————————————— Afghanistan 315 Afghanistan (Bagram) 35 —————————————————————————————— 3 —————————————————————————————— Name of Country No. of Pakistani Prisoners —————————————————————————————— Algeria 0 Argentina 0 Australia 12 Austria 10 Azerbaijan 8 Bahrain 53 Bangladesh 26 Belgium 6 Bosnia 0 Brazil 0 Brunei 0 Bulgari a 1 Cambodia 1 Canada 26 Chile 0 China 264 Hong Kong 150 Cuba 0 Czech Republic 16 Denmark 24 Egypt 1 Ethiopia 1 France 75 Germany 38 Greece 319 Hungry 83 India 403 Indonesia 5 Iran 79 Ireland 2 Italy 134 Japan 19 Jordan 2 Kazakhstan 2 Kenya 2 Uganda 1 —————————————————————————————— 4 —————————————————————————————— Name of Country No. of Pakistani Prisoners —————————————————————————————— Korea Democratic 0 Korea Republic 7 Kuwait 314 Kyrgyzstan 1 Lebanon 1 Cyprus 3 Libya 26 Malaysia 202 Maldives 8 Mauritius 0 Mexico 0 Morocco 0 Myanmar 0 Nepal 23 Netherland 16 New Zealand 0 Niger 0 Norway 14 Oman 347 Philippines 0 Poland 2 Portugal 7 Qatar 25 Romania 2 Russia 7 Saudi Arabia 2373 Senegal 0 Serbia 4 Singapore 2 South Africa 17 Spain 169 Sri Lanka 51 Sudan 0 Sweden 0 Switzerland 4 Syria 0 —————————————————————————————— 5 —————————————————————————————— Name of Country No. of Pakistani Prisoners —————————————————————————————— Tanzania 0 Tajikistan 3 Thailand 90 Tunisia 0 Turkey 12 Turkmenistan 0 UAE 1334 UK 1416 USA 99 Ukraine 2 Uzbekistan 0 Vietnam / (Lao PDR) 1 Yemen 16 Zimbabwe 4 —————————————————————————————— Total: 8715 —————————————————————————————— (b) The following steps were taken by the Government for their release during the last four years till date:— (i) Establishment of a Special Cell for Overseas Pakistanis.—A Special Cell on Overseas Pakistanis (SCOP), headed by Director General (Overseas Pakistanis) was constituted in May, 2010 and Director General (OP) was deputed as Liaison Officer. The complaints received through relatives of our expatriates are processed in coordination with our Missions abroad. (ii) Release of Pakistani prisoners through payment of fines/legal aid.—During the year 2010-11, the release of 92 Pakistani detainees/ prisoners (90 in the Gulf Arab countries and 2 in Malaysia) was secured through payment of fines and legal aid. During the year 2011- 12, our Missions in Kuwait, UAE and Saudi Arabia were authorized to pay fines of 30 prisoners, who had completed their sentences, had not committed heinous crimes, but were still in jails due to non-payment of fines. 6 (iii) Transfer of Prisoners under bilateral agreement on transfer of offenders.—Pakistan has signed bilateral Agreements on Transfer of Offenders with four countries i.e. UAE, UK, Thailand and Sri Lanka. 75 Pakistani prisoners have so far been transferred to Pakistan from Sri Lanka and Thailand under the Agreement. In addition, 6 prisoners from Seychelles and China were also transferred to Pakistan as a good will gesture. (iv) Evacuation from Libya.—About 18000 Pakistanis residing/ working in various parts of Libya during the anti-Gaddafi protests, were evacuated and repatriated to Pakistan on Government expenses. (v) Provision of one way air tickets for repatriation of destitute Pakistanis as well as dead bodies.—On the requests of our Missions abroad, the Ministry authorizes Missions to pay one way air tickets for repatriation of destitute Pakistanis as well as transportation of dead bodies from Pakistan Community Welfare & Education Fund (PCW & EF). (vi) Coordination for repatriation of victims of boat capsizing incidents.—In coordination with our Missions in Australia and Indonesia, assistance was extended to the families of the victims of boat capsizing incidents occurred in December, 2011 and June, 2012. An amount of Rs. 10,488,000/- was provided to our Mission in Canberra for the repatriation of dead bodies to Pakistan. 70. *Ms. Tahira Aurangzeb: Will the Minister for Foreign Affairs be pleased to state: (a) whether there is any proposal under consideration of the Government to purchase the residential building of the Quaid- e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in London (UK) to set up a National Monument/Museum therein; (b) if so, the steps taken by the Ministry in this regard so far? Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar): (a) No proposal is under consideration of the Government to purchase the residential building of the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in London. 7 71. *Ms. Tasneem Siddiqui: Will the Minister for Railways be pleased to state the total number of Railway Coaches purchased from China recently alongwith the utilization thereof? Minister for Railways (Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour): Project of Purchase/Manufacturing of 202 Coaches has been approved by ECNEC on 03.09.2009 with the cost of Rs.15889.9 M). Total 202 coaches of various types have been purchased from China out of which 56 coaches have been received in CBU (Completely Built Unit) condition and these are being utilized in the train of 41-UP/42-DN Korakoram Express between Lahore and Karachi Cantt. Whereas 76 Coaches are received in CKD (Completely knocked Down) condition and are under assembling process in Carriage Factory Islamabad. The remaining 70 coaches will be shipped soon in CKD (Completely knocked Down) condition. 72. *Mrs. Nisar Tanveer: Will the Minister for Privatization be pleased to state: (a) the performance made by the Ministry in the field of privatization during the last four years till date; (b) the prescribed criteria to place government entities for privatization; and (c) whether financial position and stake holders of such Government entities are taken into consideration prior to placing such entities for privatization; if so, the details thereof? Minister for Privatization (Jam Mohammad Yousaf): (a) Privatisation Commission (PC) a body corporate under the Ministry of Privatisation, is responsible for executing privatisation of State Owned Entities (SOEs). Privatisation Commission has made the following contributions, in the field of privatisation in the last four years i.e. from 2009:— 8 (a) Revamped and implemented the Privatisation Policy from traditional strategic mode to Public Private Partnership mode. (b) Implementation of Capital Market Transactions Policy (c) Initiated privatisation of various SOEs like the HEC, NPCC, PPL- SPO, OGDCL-EB (d) Successfully recovered pending proceeds from four (04) privatised SOEs i.e. Wah Cement, Bengal Vegetable, Metropolitan Steel and A&B Oil Mills. (e) Implementing Benazir Employees Stock Option Scheme (BESOS) by offering 12% stock options from the 80 SOEs to the employees of their respective organization. (b) There is no prescribed criteria for placing government units for privatisation. However, the units to be privatised are approved by the Council of Common Interests (CCI). CCI has approved lists of such SOEs in 1997, 2006 and 2011. Moreover, upon initiation of privatisation of an entity from the approved list, Privatisation Commission consults the respective administrative Ministry and other stakeholders for provision of information i.e. financial and operational position of the unit Later on, the proposal on case to case basis is taken-up with the Board of Commission, Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) and the Cabinet, at various stages of privatisation process of an entity.