By Minahil Makhdoom
ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari (Zulfi Bukhari) Monday said that in line with the directives of the leadership the government was harnessing available resources and capabilities to facilitate return of Pakistani stranded abroad in a phases.
All credit goes to Prime Minister Imran Khan, who took concrete measures to bring back Pakistanis stranded in various countries, he said this while speaking to Radio Pakistan’s current affair programme.
There are hundreds and thousands of Pakistani workers and students stuck in different countries, he said, adding that the overseas Pakistanis working abroad, including Middle Eastern countries, have become jobless during the last three or four months due to COVID-19.
Earlier, “We were bringing back around ten to fourteen thousand stranded people a week, which was not enough to meet the demand of people that needed to come back†, he mentioned.
“We have not opened up our flight operation completely, he said, adding that the government is trying its best to bring back the maximum number of vulnerable Pakistanis who stuck abroad†, he said.
He said medical screening of passengers would be done before taking the flight. Only asymptomatic passengers would be allowed to travel.
During the journey, all these passengers would have to follow SOPs, such as the health protocols, issued by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
