ISLAMABAD – Pakistan is going to conduct a special repatriation operationto bring back thousands of citizens stranded across the globe due to thecoronavirus pandemic.
There are over 100,000 Pakistanis stranded in 88 countries, with a majorityin the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, according to NationalSecurity Adviser Moeed Yusuf.
“In the first phase, 30 special flights will be operated from May 2 to May10 to bring back our citizens,” he said at a news conference in the capitalIslamabad on Saturday.
He said 15,000 Pakistanis had already been repatriated from 38 countries.
Of the remaining, around 70,000 and 15,000 are in the UAE and Saudi Arabia,respectively.
Several countries, including the US, UAE, and Saudi Arabia, have givenpermission for special flights by the national flag carrier PakistanInternational Airlines (PIA).
“The PIA still does not have access to many of 88 countries where ourcitizens are stranded. But we are making alternative arrangements to bringthem back,” said Yusuf.
“Laborers and daily wagers, who lost their jobs due to the coronaviruscrisis or those whose visas have or are about to expire, will be broughtback on priority.”
There are over 3.1 million Pakistanis in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.
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Saudi Arabia, which alone hosts nearly two million Pakistanis, tops thelist of countries with highest remittances to Pakistan, over $4.5 billionannually, followed by the UAE with over $3.47 billion, according to theState Bank of Pakistan.
Coronavirus in Pakistan
The number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan, which is the hardest-hitcountry in South Asia after India, reached 18,114 on Friday, with 417deaths and 4,715 recoveries.
The northeastern Punjab and southern Sindh provinces are the worst-affectedareas with 6,733 and 6,675 cases, respectively.
More than 3.36 million cases have been reported in 187 countries andregions since the virus emerged in China last December, with the US andEurope the world’s hardest-hit areas.
A significant number of COVID-19 patients – over 1.06 million – haverecovered, but the disease has also claimed close to 240,000 lives so far,according to data compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University. – AnadoluAgency
