LONDON: Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons MP Afzal Khan has written a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan appealing to repatriate Pakistani nationals stranded in the UK.
The MP from Manchester Gorton wrote on Monday that “I have received concerns from individuals who are unable to return to Pakistan, some of which have emergency cases.”
He added that the cases include those wishing to bury deceased relatives in Pakistan as well as those wishing to travel home to be with family after the death of a loved one.
Mr Khan in his letter echoed the sentiments of scores of Pakistani citizens who have been stranded in the United Kingdom since the imposition of coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez said that during the period of April 7-12, around 1,300 Pakistanis have been flown back by the airlines on over two dozen special flights. He added that those flights carried the remains of deceased Pakistani citizens whose relatives were travelling on the same flight.
However, since the government has once again restricted the number of Pakistani citizens who can be brought back to the country in view of limited quarantine facilities and test kits, travel from the UK to Pakistan has been ceased.
Mr Hafeez said that although 29 flights will be flown from Pakistan to the UK to bring British citizens home in the coming week, all but one of those will leave the UK without passengers. Of the flights returning empty from the UK, 16 will stop in the UAE to repatriate stranded Pakistani citizens.
In a video message released over the weekend, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK Nafees Zakariya said the mission is supporting Pakistanis in the UK in their efforts to return home and added that the mission is maintaining a list of passengers who must travel on priority.
Mr Zakariya also confirmed that 40 people from the Pakistani community had succumbed to Covid-19.
It appears that the mission is giving priority to Pakistani citizens in the UK who are on temporary visit visas, over those who have longer-term student visas or dual nationality.
One Pakistani traveller who spoke to Dawn requesting anonymity said she was successful in registering with the mission and managed to return to Islamabad on a special flight. “I was in the UK on a visit visa for a two-week visit but ended up staying on for a month because of repeated flight cancellations after the Covid-19 restrictions.”
However, several Pakistani students who are in the UK on student visas said booking a ticket with PIA on the special flights was a huge challenge. When the flight schedule was announced, their agents were blocked from accessing tickets by PIA and the portal for direct booking suffered from technical issues.
Jaweria Suhail, a student at Durham University, alleged that the situation had been mismanaged by PIA and the high commission.
“Three weeks ago 20 people including me got an email from the high commission saying that our seats will be booked on one of the three flights going from the UK to Pakistan on April 6 -8. However, those dates came and went but no seats were booked and no information was provided to us as to why we were misinformed about our travel.”
‘VIP treatment’
Students here expressed their frustration at reports that “VIPs with high contacts” in the government are being given priority to travel back home when flights become available.
One student shared a letter written by Senator Taj Muhammad Afridi, requesting MOFA to bring five of his family friends home from the UK.
The senator confirmed that the letter is authentic and appealed to the government to bring back the stranded students along with his family friends.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2020