The United Kingdom (UK) on Thursday has deported 23 Pakistanis from the country, who were living there illegally.

The people were deported from the UK and were sent back to their home country through a special flight that landed at the Islamabad International Airport.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has allowed the deported Pakistanis to head to their homes after they landed in Pakistan. In October last year, Thai authorities had convicted at least 70 Pakistani asylum seekers of staying illegally in Thailand, as police intensify a crackdown on illegal immigration.

The Taling Chan Provincial Court issued fines and up to two-month suspended jail sentences to the group, which was charged with overstaying their visas and illegal entry. An officer in charge of the case, who declined to be named because of office policy, said they will be held in a detention centre until they are deported.

The group was accompanied by 11 children who will also be held in the detention centre. Police said 52 of the defendants were arrested on Tuesday after they were found to have formed a group that smuggled Pakistani asylum seekers into Thailand with the goal of reaching other countries.

According to a report submitted to the National Assembly in 2017, it said more than half a million Pakistanis have been deported from 134 countries around the world since January 2012.