Daily Times

A group of 179 Pakistani students, both male and female, have safely returned to Lahore from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Their arrival was warmly welcomed by the officers and staff of the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF), who made special arrangements to facilitate their journey back home.

To ensure the students’ comfort and safety, the OPF organized transportation to take them directly to their homes. Additionally, paramedical staff and ambulances were on hand to provide any necessary medical assistance, demonstrating a comprehensive effort to support the returning students. In a related development, another batch of 347 students from Kyrgyzstan arrived in Islamabad. Among them, 180 students landed in Islamabad via a private flight at 5:30am, while a national airline flight brought an additional 167 students to Islamabad airport. This brings the total number of students who have returned to Islamabad through five separate flights to 810.

The return of these students marks a significant effort by the Pakistani authorities to ensure the safe repatriation of its nationals amid the ongoing global challenges. On May 18, dozens of students, including 14 Pakistanis, were reportedly injured in a mob attack on foreign students by locals in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, according to news reports. According to details, an angry mob of hundreds of locals entered the hostels of foreign medical students, ransacked them, broke windows and glass, and damaged property. Indian, Bangladeshi and Egyptian students were also brutally tortured, including several women students.

According to Pakistan’s Embassy in Bishkek, foreign students living in Bishkek, including those from Pakistan, were attacked by locals in the aftermath of their brawl with Egyptian nationals a few days ago. “According to the Kyrgyz press, the matter boiled over due to sharing online of videos of a fight between Kyrgyz students and medical students from Egypt on 13th of May,” the embassy said in a statement posted on social media.