Over 20,000 overseas Pakistanis to be repatriated from June 1: Moeed

Over 20,000 overseas Pakistanis to be repatriated from June 1: Moeed

ISLAMABAD, May 30 (APP):Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf Saturday said around 20,000 overseas Pakistan would be repatriated in the next 10 days from June 1 as the policy was revised to bring 2,000 passengers per day.

Addressing a joint press conference with SAPM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza here at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), he said over 33,000 overseas Pakistanis were brought back to the country from 55-60 countries as 1,000 passengers were brought back per day.
The SAPM said the core focus of the government was to bring back stranded labourers from the gulf countries that were unable to afford the travel expense. Most of the labourers were stuck in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). “Around 8,000 passengers will be brought back from UAE and 4,000 from KSA whereas all of these passengers comprised of labourers left unemployed in these states and wanted to come back to the country.”
He added that a new policy was also in the offing for the overseas Pakistanis which would help resolve the issues faced by them.
Dr Moeed also noted that Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had completely opened air space for outbound flights where all international airlines would be allowed to take foreigners and outbound passengers abroad. The decision was made after analyzing the least impact of outbound flights on increasing COVID-19 risk.
While briefing on the land borders’ situation, the SAPM mentioned that the land borders were operating on the same standard operating procedures (SOPs) where borders with China and India were closed.
Dr Moeed said around 180 Pakistanis were repatriated from India on May 27 through the eastern border. The Afghan borders namely at Torkham and Chaman had requisite arrangements to contain the risk of COVID-19 transmission. “The government has announced to revive trade of sustenance items with Afghanistan on humanitarian grounds where the mechanism has been devised in coordination with the Afghan authorities.”
The SAPM said that the trade trucks were allowed to move for six days for transporting goods from Torkham border and around 250 trucks a day had traveled from this border.

APP Services