48 Pakistani traders deported from Moscow

MOSCOW: As many as forty-eight Pakistani traders have been deported from Moscow while other 84 businessmen will be sent back to Pakistan in the evening, confirmed Qazi Khalilullah, Pakistani Ambassador in Moscow on Thursday. Pakistani traders were not granted entry by the immigration authorities at the Moscow Airport because of immigration concerns rose after the deadly Brussels attacks. Qazi Khalilullah has stated that about 48 Pakistani merchants have been exiled from Moscow via a Turkish Airlines however, the Russian government has not yet disclosed the reason behind the act. He said that other 84 people will also leave Moscow in the evening. Earlier, more than 150 Pakistani traders arrived at Moscow Airport on the invitation of an electronics firm from Russia but they were denied immigration at the airport and were stranded in a room without food and water. At least 80 of the businessmen were from Karachi. The action came after a string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, killing at least 34 people and injuring more than 300 in apparently coordinated attacks, underscoring the threat European nation’s face from the militant group. Two explosions targeted the main hall of Zaventem Airport with a third hitting the Maalbeek metro station near the European Union’s main buildings, just as commuters were making their way to work in rush hour.