Over 21,000 Pakistani expatriates in the Gulf states have so far lost their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari told Arab News in an exclusive interview.

“Unlike the UAE, where companies are laying off workers and sending them on forced and unpaid leave, Saudi Arabia is not doing that. Instead, it is giving them full salary,” he said.

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