62000 stranded Pakistanis repatriated so far: Meeting told

62000 stranded Pakistanis repatriated so far, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said, while speaking at a special meeting, held in Islamabad on Wednesday.

Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser presided the meeting. The attendees discussed issues related to stranded Pakistanis.

62000 stranded Pakistanis repatriated

Shah Mahmood Qureshi also mentioned repatriation of those 2018 out of 2054 members of Tableeghi Jamaat stranded in 26 countries.

The Foreign Minister also shared the report of bringing back the bodies of 479 overseas Pakistanis, who passed away due to Coronavirus.

He said Pakistani missions played a pivotal role in burial of 40 people in various Gulf countries.

He said our embassies, despite of limited resources, have spent 150 million rupees on provision of food, medicines, financial assistance, and free tickets for overseas Pakistanis.

The Minister said the government is taking every possible step for repatriation of stranded Pakistanis.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis Syed Zulfi Bukhari also spoke.

He said the capacity to repatriate has been enhanced from 2000 per week to 18,000 per week with operationalization of six airports.

He informed of plans for resumption of air traffic up to 40 percent of the pre-lockdown levels.

Zulfi Bukhari hoped that these measures would substantially alleviate problems being faced by stranded Pakistanis in coming back home.

He also informed the gathering that over 580 students have been repatriated from China through provision of up to 50 percent subsidized air tickets.