ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will kick off the selection process of approximately 950 Hajj assistants or “moavineen” and administrators, also known as “nazims,” through the National Testing Service (NTS) on Jan. 25, a religion ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday. 

Pakistan selects hundreds of doctors and assistants each year to facilitate local pilgrims in Saudi Arabia during Hajj. These assistants provide Pakistani pilgrims with guidance regarding the pilgrimage, the holy sites in Makkah and Madinah, as well as logistical support and medical aid if necessary.

The new Hajj Policy, passed in November last year, introduced the position of administrator to ensure improved services for those undertaking the annual Islamic pilgrimage. According to the policy, the government will appoint one nazim for every 100 Pakistani pilgrims.

“We will require approximately 800 Hajj support staff (moavineen) and around 150 supervisors (nazmeen), who are being included for the first time under the Hajj Policy 2025,” Muhammad Umer Butt, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Religious Affairs told Arab News.

“To ensure merit-based selection and transparency, the government will once again select all staff through the National Testing Service (NTS) tests, which will commence on Jan. 25 and will subsequently be conducted in different parts of the country,” he added.

The NTS designs and administers tests and assessments to various institutions and organizations in Pakistan for admissions, scholarships, recruitment, promotions and assessments. 

Butt said NTS has started issuing roll numbers to applicants who have applied for the Hajj assistants (moavineen) positions.

He added that the ministry also provided applicants syllabus for the test, which was based on the Hajj Policy 2025, key responsibilities of the staff and various aspects of Hajj operations. 

Additionally, Butt said all relevant information was published on the ministry’s website.

“In the first week of February, the successful candidates will undergo interviews and medical fitness tests, as Hajj is a demanding duty,” he said. 

Butt said the final list of selected candidates will be prepared in February and letters confirming the selections will be issued later. 

“Afterward, the selected candidates will undergo final training,” he said. 

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the Hajj 2025 agreement this month, according to which 179,210 pilgrims from the South Asian country would perform the annual pilgrimage in 2025. 

The quota for pilgrims is divided equally between government and private schemes.

Pakistan this week kicked off preparations for the Hajj by conducting mandatory training sessions for its nationals selected to perform this year’s pilgrimage under the government scheme. 

The Ministry of Religious Affairs also launched the Pak Hajj 2025 mobile application, available for both Android and iPhone users, to assist pilgrims.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday disclosed that a total number of 7,208 Pakistani prisoners have been released from prisons in Saudi Arabia from 2019-2024. 

During his visit to Pakistan in 2019, the Saudi crown prince ordered the release of 2,107 Pakistanis jailed in Saudi Arabia for various crimes in response to a request from the then Pakistan government. 

Dar shared the data of Pakistanis freed from Saudi jails in a written response to Senator Dr. Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur, who inquired about the progress on the release of those prisoners. 

Dar, who also serves as Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, shared that 2,907 Pakistani prisoners under the consular jurisdiction of the Pakistan Embassy in Riyadh were released from 2019-2024. Out of the remaining 7,208 prisoners, 4,301 Pakistanis under the consular jurisdiction of the Consulate General Jeddah were released from Saudi prisons from 2019-2024. 

“It is, however, hard to bifurcate/differentiate the number of the prisoners who have been able to avail this clemency under this announcement due to continuous inflow as well as outflow of the prisoners,” the minister said. 

Taimur then inquired as to how many Pakistanis were presently imprisoned in foreign jails, based on information provided by Pakistan’s diplomatic missions. 

“According to the current data, approximately 23,456 Pakistani nationals are imprisoned in various countries worldwide,” Dar responded. 

“The largest concentrations are in the Gulf region, particularly in Saudi Arabia (12,156) and UAE (5292).”

Dar said Pakistan’s foreign ministry is developing a “comprehensive consular policy” through stakeholder consultations to provide protection to its nationals imprisoned abroad. 

He said that while this policy is being formulated, Pakistan continues to protect its citizens abroad through international frameworks already in place, such as consular protection mentioned in Article 36 (c) of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963. 

“Under this framework, our consular officers: visit Pakistani nationals in prison or 7 detention, converse and correspond with detained nationals and arrange legal representation for them,” the minister said.