As many as 250 stranded Pakistanis were repatriated from Australia on Sunday through a special Pakistan International Airline (PIA) flight, as they were stuck up due to closure of flight operations following the coronavirus spread.
The repatriation of stranded Pakistanis was coordinated by Pakistan’s High Commission, Canberra and consulates general in Sydney and Melbourne, said a news release.
Consul General of Pakistan in Melbourne Sardar Adnan Rashid, also representing High Commissioner Babar Amin, saw off the stranded Pakistanis at the Melbourne airport.
The consul general said repatriation of Pakistanis manifested the commitment of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the government of Pakistan to reaching out to and looking after Pakistani diaspora across the world. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had also directed all Pakistani missions abroad to facilitate the repatriation of Pakistanis who desire so, he added.
The returning Pakistanis thanked the government of Pakistan, the high commission and the consulates general for arranging repatriation to their homeland. They also expressed satisfaction on the efforts being put in by the Pakistani missions in Australia for the welfare and well-being of community members faced with financial and allied difficulties in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, 62 Pakistani nationals stranded in Norway also reached Islamabad on Sunday. A special PIA flight departed from Oslo and arrived in Islamabad. The passengers were tested at the airport and shifted to quarantine centres. Thirty-one passengers were taken to Hill Park Hotel and 15 to Pak-China Centre. The 15-member PIA crew were transferred to Marriott Hotel.
It may be mentioned here that the PIA has planned a special mission to bring trapped Pakistani citizens abroad due to coronavirus pandemic. According to the PIA sources, the PIA will operate 103 flights from different cities to the different international destinations in next 15 days to evacuate Pakistanis from other countries. The PIA will complete its special mission till May 9 in which it will operate its flights for United Kingdom (UK), United Arab Emirates (UAE), France, Germany, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman (Masqat), Malaysia and Norway (Oslo) and these flights will be operated from airports of Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Multan and Sialkot. Upon arrival, all passengers will be kept in quarantine for coronavirus test after screening at the airports. The PIA will be bound to follow standard operating procedure (SOPs) devised by the Civil Aviation Authority and in case of positive result of coronavirus in any passenger, the passenger would be sent for 14-day quarantine.