Shah Mahmood Qureshi says 4678 Pakistanis stranded abroad

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday said that currently 4678 Pakistanis are stranded abroad due to suspension of international flight operations amid coronavirus pandemic, ARY NEWS reported.

Talking during ARY NEWS programme ‘11^th Hour’, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that these people remain trapped in United Kingdom, Canada and Gulf countries.

“Some of the pilgrims who went to Iran and others who went to perform Umrah also got trapped there due to ban on flight operations,” he said.

We have asked the Iranian authorities to release the pilgrims in small groups in order to ensure proper facilitation on their arrival, Qureshi said. “We know they are facing difficulties in fighting COVID-19 due to sanctions,” he said.

The foreign minister said that their top priority was to bring back Pakistanis stranded at the foreign airports. “We have brought back people from Bangkok, Dubai and Doha,” he said while shedding light on government’s efforts to facilitate the citizens trapped in Turkey, Nepal and other countries.

We will be operating special flights to bring back all these people, he said adding that the passengers would remain seated in the planes following social distancing in order to avoid contraction of coronavirus.

We have a SOP to screen and test all passengers coming to Pakistan, said the foreign minister adding that every passenger would be put in quarantine on his arrival for 14-days.

He said that the citizens stranded abroad could contact crisis-management cell at the foreign ministry for any queries and help.