ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court has extended the hearing of the petition filed over the safe return of Pakistani students stranded in China due to the ongoing coronavirus disease till 28th February.
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah conducted the hearing. Over 100 family members of the stranded Pakistanis appeared before the court. Their counselor stated the court the lives of the students were under threat in China.
The counsel once again appealed to the court to issue an order to the federal government and ask the state for convening an emergency meeting over the matter.
The counsel further continued that the Pakistani student there had no other choice to eat anything but Chinese food. There were seventy-nine Pakistani students living in a hostel in Wuhan, he added.
The children being provided Chinese food, Director General Foreign Office said in the court. Prime Minister Imran Khan has talked with the Chinese authorities over the matter, he further said.
A petition was earlier filed by some Pakistani students living in China in which they pleaded through email that the government was not supporting them in the on-going situation.
The petition also pleaded the court to direct the government to help the Pakistanis residing there and help them.
The judge in the previous hearing also directed Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Syed Zulfikar Bukhari to arrange a meeting between families and students.
Earlier today, a Chinese Consulate-General Li Bijian said that Pakistan made the best decision to not bring back its students from China as the coronavirus has been controlled.
Pakistanis in China were being well taken care of. Everything possible steps were being taken to cope with the disease, he added.
Read more: Families appeal Pakistani govt to evacuate students from China
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