Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis, on Thursday, appreciated the ministry’s progress while recommending awareness measure to ensure maximum benefit. The committee held a meeting at the Parliament Lodges to discuss an agenda, comprising of the New Zealand terror attacks and the ministry’s role in this regard; the welfare mechanism of Overseas Pakistanis Foundation and the status of plots of overseas Pakistanis in Mehran Town, Karachi. The committee lauded New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden’s stance in this regard and said it highly appreciated the measures of its government while awarding two-year resident visas to family members of the victims. The committee further condemned the attack in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. Samina Abbas from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefed the members of the committee regarding the measures taken in such situations. She added that crisis cells have been set up with well-drawn evacuation plans. The ministry was said to have coordinated with the home country police, the Pakistan High Commission and the victim’s family. The Committee recommended that the relevant officers from the mission coordinate with the Pakistani Community in such situations since they were said to have access to those in an influential position. The committee sought details of injured Pakistanis in New Zealand’s attack. While discussing the welfare mechanism of Overseas Pakistanis Foundation, the committee was informed of various initiatives pursued by the ministry. It was also said that the Foreign Exchange Remittance Card had been created to facilitate all those remitting money through legitimate banking channels. This card provided the user with duty credits, which could be used during visits to Pakistan. The ministry, however, agreed that in order to popularise this method of money transfer, it was imperative to decrease the duration of the transfer. While discussing the status of Mehran Town plots, a sub-committee was formed to probe the matter. Senator Sassui Palijo took up the matter of 2000 Pakistani prisoners in Saudi Arabia. She added that 200 of them had been released while the fate of 1800 remaining prisoners lay in the balance. She called for an effective policy-making and coordinated efforts of both the government and the opposition quarters in this regard. The senator also quoted the recent report published by the Justice Project Pakistan. The meeting was marked by the presence of senators Syed Muhammad Sabir Shah; Mirza Muhammad Afridi; Nighat Mirza; Sassui Palijo; Dr Shehzad Waseem as well as senior officers from the ministries of Overseas Pakistanis and Foreign Affairs.