What is the truth of the circulated video claiming to show the place of disappearance of 50 thousand Pakistanis in Najaf?
A video clip circulated on social media attached with a text stating "A Najafi citizen reveals where 50 thousand Pakistanis disappeared."
The Truth
The attached claim is misleading and inaccurate. Despite the Pakistani magazine (The Nation) publishing an article on July 25, 2024, in which it announced, quoting Pakistani Minister of Religious Affairs (Chaudhry Salik Hussain), about the disappearance of about 50 thousand Pakistani visitors in Iraq over the past years, without specifying the exact period during which these people disappeared, during a meeting of the Pakistani Senate Committee.
However, the circulated video is old, dating back to 2019, where the person talked about a residential complex in the city of Najaf called (Zamzam Complex) and claimed that the majority of its residents are of Pakistani nationality.
Following the spread of the news, the Pakistani minister published a statement on his account on the X platform on July 27, clarifying the situation, stating that these Pakistanis:
"did not disappear but failed to return, and they do not belong to any entity or organization."
"These people went through entities and companies for legal work purposes, but what happened is that these companies did not fulfill their commitments, leaving them unknown in Iraq."
On its part, the (Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs) issued a statement today, Sunday, July 28, clarifying that it had made official contacts with (Chaudhry), who in turn confirmed to the ministry that:
"There was a misunderstanding in conveying the information he had given, and what some media outlets reported about the disappearance of 50 thousand Pakistanis is not true."
The ministry added that (Chaudhry) informed them that he:
"will summon the media outlet that published the inaccurate news to investigate the matter."