KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has issued notices to the ministry of foreign affairs (MoFA) and other respondents on a petition seeking repatriation of a Pakistani family said to be detained in Syria.

A petitioner had approached the SHC last year by invoking its constitutional jurisdiction and sought directives to the ministry, director general of the directorate of passport & immigration and Pakistani embassy in Syriafor recovery of his daughter-inlaw and two grandchildren.

After a preliminary hearing, a two-judge bench comprising Justice omar sial and Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon put the respondents on notice for Nov 27.

Petitioner Mohiuddin Khan submitted that his son, Mohammad Kamran, was a petroleum engineer and in 2014 he along with his family had moved to Türkiye for the purpose of a job and an oil company had deputed him to oilfields near Syria.

However, he contended that later, the area in question wasfor recovery of his daughter-inlaw and two grandchildren.

After a preliminary hearing, a two-judge bench comprising Justice omar sial and Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon put the respondents on notice for Nov 27.

Petitioner Mohiuddin Khan submitted that his son, Mohammad Kamran, was a petroleum engineer and in 2014 he along with his family had moved to Türkiye for the purpose of a job and an oil company had deputed him to oilfields near Syria.

However, he contended that later, the area in question wasfound to be in Syria and occupied by the militant Islamic State (IS) group and after the defeat ofthe IS his son and family were detained by Kurd militants.

The petitioner also maintained that as per media reports, around 200 Pakistani families had been killed in the Syria war and around 250 Pakistani nationals detained by Kurd militants.

The petitioner further maintained that he had approached the Kurd militants, and they had informed him that whereabouts of his son were still not known while his daughter-in-law Qurat-ul-Ain and two grandsons Ashar and Abdul Rehman were being kept at a camp in Syria and advised the petitioner to approach the Pakistani Embassy in Syria or the government for their repatriation.

Thereafter, the petitioner submitted that he had approached the Pakistani authorities concerned in this regard, but to no avail and asked the SHC to issue directives for respondents to make efforts for repatriation since the detained family belonged to Pakistan and had all fundamental rights and the state was bound to protect them.