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Lahore: More than 20,000 Pakistani nationals were deported from Gulf countries, mostly from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, in recent months due to security concerns and multiple reasons, amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and the US, according to official data.

According to the Narcotics Control Ministry data, presented before the National Assembly on Thursday, several Pakistanis were also reportedly detained or deported for filming or uploading videos and material relating to Iranian attacks in their cities.

The Pakistani nationals were deported between March 1 and July 13 from the Gulf Cooperation Council, comprising six countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, the ministry said.

The deportations were executed due to security concerns, overstaying, illegal entry, begging, drug-related offences, refusal of asylum claims and forged or improper documentation.

As many as 4,628 absconders were deported, besides 1,294 jailed, 968 blacklisted, 1,155 deportation cases about lost passports, and 689 Pakistanis were deported for visa violations, and 342 were cases of refused entries into the Gulf States, according to the data.

Saudi Arabia accounted for the majority of the deportations with 15,500 people, followed by the United Arab Emirates (3,803), Oman (1,606), Bahrain (521), Qatar (429), and Kuwait (97), according to the figures.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, responding to supplementary questions on Thursday, said the figure covered only those people who were formally detained by the authorities of the respective countries and were deported after Pakistani missions issued them emergency travel documents.

Pakistanis who returned voluntarily or on valid passports were not included in the figures, he said.

Over 6,000 deportations were placed under the broad “Others” category, without the ministry sharing details on the figure.

Several Pakistanis were detained or deported after filming or uploading videos and material relating to the Iranian attack.

In March, Bahrain announced the arrest of six persons, including five Pakistanis, for filming, publishing and reposting videos related to the effects of Iranian strikes in the kingdom, reported the Dawn newspaper.

Also, the members of the Shia community faced increased scrutiny in some Gulf states during the conflict.

The development has raised concerns over the vulnerability of Pakistani migrant workers and expatriates in the Gulf, which hosts millions of Pakistanis and remains a major source of remittances for the country.