Report: US Deports 131 Pakistanis in Secret Airlift

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, July 11, 2002

Report: US Deports 131 Pakistanis in Secret Airlift

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The US Justice Department in last month secretly chartered a Portuguese jet to deport 131 Pakistani detainees who had been held for months at immigration detention facilities, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

A majority of the detainees had been arrested under a Justice Department program to locate and apprehend immigrants who have ignored previous deportation orders and who came under scrutiny after the September 11 attacks, the report said.

None of the detainees appeared to have links to terrorism, U.S.officials said.

U.S. and Pakistani officials arranged the airlift on June 26 asa way to resolve contentious diplomatic issues that have arisen between the two countries since the Justice Department began detaining immigrants in the United States.

U.S. authorities have arrested about 1,200 people, mostly Arab and South Asian descent, on immigration violations and in connection with the terrorism investigation since the September 11attacks.

The detentions and subsequent deportations have been conducted in secret, drawing criticism from civil liberties advocates. Thosecritics say the US government has illegally targeted Muslims and disrupted the lives of hundreds of people who have nothing to do with terrorism.

According to figures released by the Justice Department last year, 300 of those detained in the United States were from Pakistan, more than from any other country.

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