- Agreement to be signed next week in Saudi Arabia, Interior Ministry confirms
- Deal expected to clarify legal status, residency rights, and travel for Rohingya communities
- Thousands of Rohingya Muslims who moved from Karachi decades ago to benefit
- Talks reviewed by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Saudi Ambassador Nawaf Al-Malki
KARACHI: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have decided to sign a landmark agreement next week to resolve the longstanding issue “surrounding the legal status” of Rohingya Muslim refugees who migrated from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia decades ago, the Interior Ministry announced.
The agreement is expected to mark a significant step in addressing the plight of thousands of stateless Rohingya Muslims and strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The issue concerns thousands of Rohingya Muslims who had moved from Karachi to Saudi Arabia after being allocated lands by then Pakistani military ruler Ayub Khan, following their exodus from Myanmar’s Rakhine state due to military operations. While Pakistan had been renewing their passports for decades, the process was halted in 2012, leaving many of these individuals stateless.
Over the years, Pakistani and Saudi authorities have held discussions to resolve the legal status of these Rohingya Muslims. The matter was recently reviewed during a meeting in Islamabad between Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Malki, who also discussed broader bilateral relations.
According to the Interior Ministry, both sides expressed satisfaction over the resolution of this longstanding issue. “The Saudi ambassador thanked the Government of Pakistan for its positive role in resolving the matter, and a formal agreement on this issue will be signed next week in Saudi Arabia,” the ministry added.
Karachi remains home to over 400,000 Rohingya Muslims—the largest population outside Myanmar and Bangladesh, according to unofficial estimates. The community began arriving in the region as early as the 1940s, before Pakistan’s creation, with most settling in the city between 1960 and 1980. They were accommodated in two Karachi settlements, Burma Colony and Arkanabad, after arduous journeys through Bangladesh and India.
Since then, mass migrations have largely ceased due to tightened border controls by India with Bangladesh and restrictions on movement toward Pakistan. The upcoming agreement is expected to provide clarity on legal status, travel, and residency rights for these long-settled Rohingya communities, reflecting a significant milestone in Pakistan-Saudi collaboration on humanitarian and migration issues.
