Claim: 40 Pakistanis were deported from Europe for spreading hatred and conspiracies on social media against the state of Pakistan.
Fact: The claim is misleading. According to credible reports in the media, the migrants from Spain were deported in December 2023 after being arrested on charges of extremism.
On 10 June 2024, Abdullah Gull, son of former General Hamid Gul, shared a clip (archive) from a broadcast news report on X with an Urdu caption that translates into the following, “Forty barking Pakistanis deported from Europe. Those who bark at the state of Pakistan can no longer hide in any corner of the world. The effects of Hafiz’s halwa (sweets) began to show”. The word Hafiz in the caption likely refers to Pakistan’s Army Chief General Asim Munir and implies Pakistanis were from European countries for having anti-Pakistan and pro-PTI sentiments.
The same clip was also shared by other users on X implying that supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were deported from Europe for spreading “anti-national” conspiracies and hatred against their country.
Punjab Defamation Law:
The video was posted after the Punjab Assembly approved a controversial defamation law, sparking countrywide demonstrations to challenge the regulations in court. The Punjab Defamation Bill, 2024 is intended to give legal protection against false, misleading, or defamatory accusations made against private residents and public officials through print, electronic, or social media platforms such as X (previously Twitter), WhatsApp, YouTube, and TikTok. The bill proposes authorising defamation tribunals to issue preliminary decrees to the tune of PKR 3 million, without trial, immediately on receiving a defamation claim. However, journalist groups, the Human Rights Commission Pakistan (HRCP), and opposition parties such as the PTI have condemned the measure, calling it an attack on press freedom and political revenge.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check investigated the veracity of the viral claim due to its harmful implications for Pakistanis living in Europe.
A screengrab from the news clip in the claim shows the time and date when the news was aired. After zooming in, we noticed a blurred “19 Dec | Tue” written at the bottom right corner of the image below the logo of Samaa TV.
According to the correspondent in the video, 40 Pakistanis including 15 from Spain, another 15 from Greece, and 10 from Georgia (10) were arrested for disseminating political and religious hate speech via social media.
Taking cues from this, Soch Fact Check Google searched the terms “Radical, Pakistani, deported, Europe” in English and Urdu. The results led to an article by Daily Pakistan, titled, سپین نے شرمناک الزام میں گرفتار 15 پاکستانیوں کو ڈی پورٹ کردیا [“Spain has deported 15 Pakistanis arrested on shameful charges”], published on 14 December 2023.
According to this article, Spain, Greece and Georgia “deported 40 Pakistanis through a special plane.” Among these passengers, 15 Pakistanis were deported from Spain after they were arrested by the Spanish police on charges of extremism, 12 were deported from Greece while Georgia and Albania expelled 13 Pakistanis from the country, the report stated.
Those arrested were accused of forming a network that propagated extremist messages online, Daily Pakistan’s report added.
According to a 15 December report by Dunya News, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) confirmed the deportation of these persons and their arrival in Pakistan but did not share any information about the charges against them. However, the brother of one of the deported persons from Spain told Dunya News that the accused persons had uploaded content by the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) and videos related to it on TikTok, but they were unaware that it would lead to charges of extremism.
The Olive Press, an English newspaper based in Spain, reported on 18 December 2023 that“‘Radicalised’ extremist Pakistanis are thrown out of Spain”. Citing the Interior Ministry of Spain, the article reported that this radical group of individuals was perceived as a threat to public security due to its “rigorous interpretation of religion”.
Euro Weekly and First Post also reported on the arrest of 14 Pakistanis in Spain, on 7 and 9 November, respectively. The arrested individuals of Pakistani origin had formed a network in which jihadist messages and a high degree of radical content were shared online, according to both reports.
Soch Fact Check concludes that the news of Pakistanis being deported from European countries is old, and is not connected to PTI and anti-national sentiments.
Virality
The false post on X received 87,800 views, 1,200 reposts and 2,600 likes. The archived versions can be seen here and here. It was also shared by former caretaker information minister of Balochistan Jan Achakzai here.
On Facebook, the news clip was shared here, here and here.
Conclusion: Viral posts claiming that 40 Pakistanis were deported for spreading hatred against their country are misleading. The news is not recent but from December 2023 when 40 Pakistanis were deported from Europe, including 15 from Spain who were sent back after being charged for extremism. No credible news reports suggest that they were sent back for spreading anti-national sentiments.
Background image in cover photo: PTI Official
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