Over 35,000 stranded Pakistanis brought back from different countries: NA told

ISLAMABAD, Jun 08 (APP):Minister for Communications Murad Saeed Monday informed the National Assembly that over 35,000 stranded Pakistanis in different countries had so far been brought back to Pakistan.
Speaking in the House, he said there were about 122,700 expatriates, who wanted to return to Pakistan from various parts of the world. About 73 dead bodies had also been tranported from the United Arab Emirates and 46 from Saudi Arabia.
He said soon after the registration of stranded Pakistanis, the government had approached the respective countries for their safe return.
He said the government had enhanced the testing capacity and increased the number of quarantine centers to accommodate more overseas Pakistanis on their return.
Murad Saeed said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government on the request of the Federal Government had provided special budget for the return of Pakistanis from the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
He said the government was ready to give money for the purchase of tickets to the stranded Pakistanis as they were an asset of the country.
The minister also requested the Sindh Government to support the Federal Government for bringing back the overseas Pakistanis belonging to the province.
Murad Saeed also asked the overseas Pakistanis not to pay more than 1120 Dirham for tickets. They could register their complaints on the number given on the website of Overseas Pakistanis Ministry.
He said it was the utmost effort of the government to bring back the stranded Pakistanis on emergency basis. It had also provided rations to 1500 Pakistani families in the UAE.
Earlier, the opposition members demanded early repatriation of Pakistanis stranded abroad.
Khawaja Asif of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz said the government should come up with a special programme to bring back the Pakistanis.
PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal said the government should chalk out an emergency programme for the safe return of the Pakistanis from abroad.
Pakistan Peoples Party’s Raja Pervaiz Ashraf also said that government should provide food to the Pakistanis sitting outside embassies of UAE and Saudi Arabia.
BNP-M’s Akhtar Mengal also asked the government to expand flight operations for Balochistan province to bring back citizens from abroad.