QUETTA:LastyearIranianauthorities handed over to officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Balochistan Levies at the Taftan border crossing some 29,000 Pakistanis who were either staying illegally in Iran or had entered the country with the intention of ultimately migrating to Europe.

An FIA official said on Tuesday that the Pakistanis repatriated included those who had gone to the neighbouring country in search of jobs and returned on their own.

`Between 12,000 and 15,000 of them returned home voluntarily,` FIA`s deputy director for Quetta, Jawad Ahmed, said.

He said a majority of those who returned home were those who had stayed back in Iran even though their visas had expired.

Improvements in the law and ordersituation and the economic prospects in Pakistan played a key role in many of them returning voluntarily, the of ficial said.

Poverty, unemployment and the poor security situation had forced thousands of Pakistanis to illegally enter Iran through infrequent routes with the aim of either finding jobs there or ultimately going to Europe for the purpose, Mr Ahmed said. `Tough immigration laws and strict measures taken by Iran, Turkey and the European countries also forced many Pakistanis to come back,` he said.

He said the people handed over to the Pakistani authorities at the border had been arrested by Iranian security personnel in different areas of their country and hailed from various areas in Pakistan. A majority of them, however, belonged to central Punjab.

`When arrested, they admitted that they had paid huge sums to human smugglers for their illegal journey but mostly did not disclosethe names of their `agents`,` Mr Ahmed said.

Last year ofhcials and personnel of the FIA, Frontier Corps, Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies intercepted 8,512 Pakistanis who were trying to enter Iran illegally, the FIA official said.

`These Pakistanis were taken into custody at different places, including Quetta, Taftan and other infrequent crossing points.

Among those who were arrested were some Afghans, the official said.

`However, Pakistan has asked Iranian authorities to deport Afghan illegal immigrants directly to their country.

In 2015, Iran had arrested and handed over to Pakistani officials more than 26,000 Pakistanis.

`Therefore, the number of people illegally entering Iran from Pakistan increased last year. In 2014, Iran had only arrested 5,218 Pakistanis,` Mr Ahmed said.