By;Asghar Ali Mubarak
Islamabad; November 9: Nine 09 Pakistani prisoners has been shifted from Thailand to Pakistani jail being involved in drug smuggling and other cases , The official source identified the prisoners as Matten Ahmed<LHR> Metab Raza <RWP>,Mohsin,<KCI>Muhammad Nabi,<QTA>Yasir Arfat<QTA> Zubair Ahmed,<QTA>Muhammad Yaqoob ,.<Sindh>arrived Benazir Bhutto international airport Islamabad on other day and shifted to Adiala jail Rawalpindi Rawalpindi where they would finish their imprisonment ,official sources said. The recent development of releasing Pakistani prisoner are in the response of Mrs. Oraphan Kanma Thai woman case . The 35-year-old Thai woman has been released from Adiala Jail Rawalpindi on bail by the free legal assistance of Advocates Asghar Ali Mubarak ,Miss Tahira Bano Mubarak,Miss Uzma Mubarak of Shaheed Mazhar Ali Mubarak Law associates/Trust Pakistan from the Court of Ch. M. Mumtaz Hussain , Learned Judge for Special Court Customs, Taxation & Anti-Smuggling Rawalpindi / Islamabad Pakistan. The sources claimed that more than 250 prisoners are waiting to be transferred to Pakistan. The Cases for transfer of the remaining qualified Pakistani prisoners have been submitted to Thai authorities. Earlier in 2010 the first batch of prisoners being transferred to Pakistan under the bilateral Agreement. The prisoners were being transferred to Pakistan under the Pakistan-Thailand Agreement on “Cooperation in the transfer of offenders and enforcement of penal sentences.” The agreement between Pakistan and Thailand was signed in 2009 and came into effect in 2009.According to a Federal Investigation Agency’s official; the fresh batch of prisoners came on a Pakistan International Airlines flight. All the prisoners were captured by the law enforcement agencies in Thailand during 1999-2003 on charges of drug smuggling. They were shifted to Adiala jail Rawalpindi where they would finish their imprisonment. Pakistan and Thailand formally effected the transfer many Pakistani prisoners to Pakistan in Bangkok, in pursuance of the bilateral Agreement on “Cooperation in the Transfer of Offenders and Enforcement of Penal Sentences.”These 11 prisoners are part of a second batch of 22 being transferred to Pakistan in 2010 . The first batch of 8 prisoners was transferred to Pakistan in December 2010.This transfer of prisoners is the outcome of an inter-governmental process and represents close cooperation between Pakistan and Thailand in the consular field.
The Pakistan-Thailand Agreement on the Transfer of Offenders was signed in 2007 and came into effect in 2009. Ever since, the Government has made proactive efforts to ensure fast-track implementation of the Agreement. The official sources said the travel documents of the other 250 Pakistani prisoners are in the process of being prepared. The Pakistani Foreign Office and the Senate’s Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control is also provided this information during a recent meeting. The authorities were informed that five other prisoners were repatriated from Seychelles and one from China as a goodwill gesture. Pakistan has signed the bilateral agreement on the transfer of offenders with the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom and negotiations are underway for bilateral agreements with Saudi Arabia, China, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Canada, Egypt, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Netherlands, Oman, Philippines, Qatar, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United States, Uzbekistan and Yemen. The Agreement on the Transfer of Offenders was signed by the two countries in 2007 and came into force in December 2009 after both sides completed their respective ratification processes. Proactive efforts have since been made to ensure fast-track implementation of the Agreement. As per the provisions of the Agreement and relevant Thai legislation, those prisoners who have completed 1/3 of their awarded sentences (or 4 or 8 years, depending on the nature of the offence) have the right to request for transfer. In Thai land more than 250 Pakistanis are in Thai jails the prisoners are could not be transferred back to Pakistan because of delay in paperwork by the government. Shaheed Mazhar Ali Mubarak Law associates /trust Pakistan ‘s Advocates Asghar Ali MUBARAK,Miss Tahira Bano Mubarak,Miss Uzma Mubarak and many Members of the Pakistani community in Thailand already providing free legal assistance and bearing the expenses for both countries prisoners and promised that this services will also provided in future. His Excellency Mr. Tomwit Jarnson, Ambassador of Thailand to Pakistan H.E. Mr. Loechai Jantarasombat Minister Counsellor Deputy Head of Mission the Royal Thai Embassy to Pakistan while talking to exclusively with the correspondent The Daily Mail Islamabad and the Founder President Diplomatic Correspondents Forum of Pakistan Mr. Asghar Ali Mubarak said that Thai government values its relationships with Pakistan and will full support in this regards. H.E. Mr. Loechai Jantarasombat Minister Counsellor Deputy Head of Mission the Royal Thai Embassy to Pakistan said there is one and only thai prisoner .in Pakistani jail. The 35-year-old Thai woman Mrs. Oraphan Kanma resident of Thai Land, has been released from Adiala Jail Rawalpindi on bail by the free legal assistance of Advocates Asghar Ali Mubarak ,Miss Tahira Bano Mubarak,Miss Uzma Mubarak of Shaheed Mazhar Ali Mubarak Law associates/trust Pakistan from the Court of Ch. M. Mumtaz Hussain , Learned Judge for Special Court Customs, Taxation & Anti-Smuggling Rawalpindi / Islamabad Pakistan. A petition for after arrest bail was jointly filed by Advocates Asghar Ali Mubarak ,Miss Tahira Bano Mubarak,Miss Uzma Mubarak of Shaheed Mazhar Ali Mubarak Law associates on behalf of Thai woman was arrested on7th October 2014 while going to Bangkok through flight Np.TK-350,from Benazir Bhutto international airport Islamabad, Mrs. Oraphan arrested and charged under the section 178, 157, 70, 8(1), 156 CUSTOM ACT 1969 & SECTION 8 OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE REGULATORY ACT 1947 REGISTERED AT P.S. I & P MODEL CUSTOMS COLLECTORATE, ISLAMABAD. As per contents of FIR, the smuggling of foreign currency was happened through flight Np.TK-350 by Thai woman, upon investigation when the Thai woman was searched by the lady police officer Mrs,Uzma Nafees then 26362 US Dollars, 100UK Pounds, 20 Euro, 6480 Thai Bhat were recovered from the possession of Mrs. Oraphan Kanma. Hence the case /FIR Number 39/2014 under the section 178, 157, 70, 8(1), 156 CUSTOM ACT 1969 & SECTION 8 OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE REGULATORY ACT 1947 REGISTERED AT P.S. I & P MODEL CUSTOMS COLLECTORATE, ISLAMABAD was registered against the Thai woman. Advocates Asghar Ali MUBARAK,Miss Tahira Bano Mubarak,Miss Uzma Mubarak argued that Thai woman with malafide intention and ulterior motives involved in the case she is quite innocent and she has no concern whatsoever with the commission of alleged offences .Thai woman Mrs. Oraphan Kanma is working with world famous hotel chain Marriot International Islamabad as Massuese in Health Club Department since 8th September 2010.The whole currency recovered from the petitioner is her earning and not an illegal currency advocates explained in their arguments. After the releasing from Adiala jail Rawalpindi thai lady handed over to Thai embassy Islamabad for further proceeding. Mr. Loechai Jantarasombat Minister Counsellor Deputy Head of Mission the Royal Thai Embassy to Pakistan stated that Mrs. Oraphan Kanma is a one and only prisoner in Pakistan. Mr. Asghar Ali Mubarak Founder President, Diplomatic Correspondents Forum of Pakistan Advocates Miss Tahira Bano Mubarak, Miss Uzma Mubarak of Shaheed Mazhar Ali Mubarak Law Associates briefed the Thai embassy officials that a numbers of Pakistani prisoners are awiting like this free leagle assistance ,Thai authorities must provide free legal help for all Cases like Mrs. Oraphan Kanma. Thai woman case . These mostly Pakistani prisoners belong to poor families and unable to pay court fine/expenditure legal fee in their cases. They are Suffering Injustice and Inhuman Condition in the Thai Jails, They need our assistance and help on the humanitarian basis. Asghar Ali Mubarak added. The recent development of realizing Pakistani prisoner is in the response of Mrs. Oraphan Kanma Thai woman case .The Pakistanis in Thailand is based much before the independence when hundreds of people from regions of current-day Pakistan left for Thailand, then known as Siam. There are thousands of Thai nationals of Pakistani origin, along with some three thousand people with Pakistani nationality in Thailand.Most are concentrated in and around areas of Bangkok. Along with Indians, they are part of the much larger South Asian community in the country.The occupations of Pakistani expatriates vary from white-collar to blue-collar labour. Pakistanis form one of the larger communities of Muslims in Thailand.There are several hundred Pakistani international students at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok; after Thai and Vietnamese students, they consist the third largest group in the university. The movement of Pakistanis throughout the country is common; in 2008, as much as 63,258 Pakistanis visited Thailand.The Thai-Pakistani Friendship Association (TPFA), a government recognized body, based both in Thailand and in Pakistan, represents people of Pakistani origin, whether Thai or Pakistani nationals, throughout Thailand. In March 2010, Pakistanis living in Thailand protested a conference chaired in Bangkok allegedly focusing on the support of Baloch separatism, a conflict which has gripped one of Pakistani’s western provinces. The meeting, known as the “Baloch Voice Foundation”, provided a podium for foreign-based Baluch activists and separatists from Pakistan to speak on various agendas. The Thai government additionally came under criticism by the community for allowing such a forum to be held.
The Pakistani community of Bangkok is briefly mentioned in the novel Fragrance Beyond Borders by Thai-Indian author Amarendra Naryan. The book focuses on the lives of Indians and Pakistanis in Thailand and the relations between the two countries in general.
Caption photo;;
A group photo along with H.E. Mr. Tomwit Jarnson, Ambassador of Thailand to Pakistan, H.E. Mr. Loechai Jantarasombat Minister Counsellor Deputy Head of Mission the Royal Thai Embassy to Pakistan after meeting with Mr. Asghar Ali Mubarak Founder President Diplomatic Correspondents Forum of Pakistan, Miss Uzma Mubarak, Miss Tahira Bano Mubarak and Thai official at the Royal Thai Embassy Islamabad
