Pakistan announces first flight to repatriate stranded students from Wuhan

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the PM for Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari has announced that Pakistan would sent its first flight on May 18, to repatriate students from Wuhan, China.

On a social media website, Bukhari tweeted: “I’m very happy for the 1st flight going to Wuhan to bring back our Pakistani students on 18/05/2020.”

He further said “You guys have been the bravest soldiers, PM Imran Khan & Pakistan are proud of you.”

I’m very happy for the 1st flight going to Wuhan to bring back our Pakistani students on 18/05/2020.
You guys have been the bravest soldiers, PM @ImranKhanPTI & Pakistan are proud of you.

Welcome back home !

— Sayed Z Bukhari (@sayedzbukhari) May 8, 2020

Earlier, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza had said despite strong criticism from the opposition, the government had decided to stay firm on its earlier decision against the repatriation of Pakistanis stuck in virus-hit China.

During a press conference, Dr Mirza said that the decision was finalised after a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, where the latter had assured that taking care of Pakistani citizens was a priority for China’s government.

Mirza had informed that the government had decided not to evacuate Pakistanis from China, adding that such a step would be “against the larger interest” of the country.

He said “Right now the government of China had contained this epidemic in Wuhan city. If we act irresponsibly and start evacuating people from there, this epidemic will spread all over the world like wildfire.”

He said that Pakistan stands with China and would respect the directions of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Beijing.

He further said that the whole world is worried about the virus and WHO has advised all the countries to not evacuate their nationals from China.

On March 20, the Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah had asked the parents of Pakistani students stranded in China to trust the state as it is taking the right steps given the circumstances.

Justice Minallah made the remark while hearing a case related to the repatriation of Pakistanis stranded in China.

During the hearing, parents of the stranded Pakistani students complained that the government had not taken any measures to bring back their children.

To this, Minallah said the most important thing is that the Pakistani students are much safer in China as they would have been at greater risk in Pakistan.

Around 28,000 Pakistanis, including between 8,000 and 10,000 students, stranded in China during the suspension of flights amid coronavirus pandemic.