The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OP&HRD) on Tuesday said the government would airlift over 10,500 stranded Pakistanis from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this week (June 7 to June 15) by operating 46 special flights under the world’s largest repatriation operation.
Around five international airlines including Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) were engaged in the current phase of repatriation operation to bring back over 20,000 Pakistanis stuck in the foreign shores due to travel restriction imposed across the globe to curb the coronavirus spread, an official in the OP&HRD ministry said.
The international airlines included Qatar Airways, UAE Airline, Saudi Airline and Sri Lankan Airline, he added. More than 20 flights would be operated for bringing over 5,000 stranded nationals to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia,
he said, pointing out that repatriation operation of the expats would continue in phases.
“Laid off Pakistani workers, students and people with expired visas are given top priority during the repatriation process,” the official added.
He said around 2,500 stranded citizens would be evacuated from Qatar via 10 special flights, to be operated between June 7 to June 15. Under the current phase, he said, Pakistanis would also be brought back from multiple countries including, Australia, Canada, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Oman, the United Kingdom and United States. Except Malaysia, one flight for each country would be operated during the said period, he added.
Meanwhile, a special flight of Pakistan International Airlines carrying 253 stranded Pakistanis in Iraq left for Islamabad on Tuesday morning. The total number of repatriated Pakistanis from Iraq has reached 645 including 81 prisoners, Pakistan’s embassy in Baghdad said in a statement.
Pakistan’s ambassador to Iraq Sajid Bilal saw off the passengers at the airport, while the embassy staff assisted the passengers for check-in and completion of departure formalities. The ambassador expressed gratitude to the government of Iraq for their support in facilitating the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis.