ISLAMABAD: The Upper House of the Parliament was informed on Tuesday that around 203 foreigners had been given citizenship of Pakistan from 2008 hitherto.
State Minister for Interior Tasneem Qureshi, answering questions said citizenship had been granted in accordance with the provisions of Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951 and Naturalization Act 1926 after observing all legal formalities, including security clearance.
Giving year-wise breakup, the minister said around 134 people, including 110 from Afghanistan, two from Iraq, two from the USA, four from India, and one each from Lebanon, Myanmar, Korea, Jordan, China, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Syria, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Philippines, South Africa and Morocco, had been given citizenship in 2008.
In 2009, the minister added, around 35 people had got citizenship. They were: seven from Afghanistan, eight from India, two from China, three from Philippines, two from Iran, one each from Zambia, Indonesia, Somalia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Egypt, France, Kuwait, Nepal and the United Kingdom.
Qureshi further said around 34 people had been granted citizenship in 2010 so far. They were: nine from Afghanistan, 15 from India, two from Egypt, three from the UK, one each from USA, France, Somalia and Philippines.
