THE embassies of many countries that have a reasonable presence of expatriates in the Gulf countries hold regular meetings with their respective diasporas where individuals present their problems and ambassadors issue directives on the spot. If there is a problem that needs the attention of some departments or ministries back home, embassy staff is assigned to pursue such cases individually. There is no prize for guessing that Pakistan is not among such countries.

The only time Pakistanis living in the Middle East get to meet their respective ambassadors or visiting dignitaries are occasions when the intention is to raise funds. Beyond that, overseas Pakistanis, or at least those in the Middle East, are not ‘Pakistani’ enough for them.

The office of the Federal Ombudsman had issued orders for Pakistan embassies to hold open house sessions in their respective domains, but not a thing ever moved in that direction. The order, by the way, was issued on June 22, 2022; almost two years ago. When I asked an executive of the Pakistan Club, the sole Pakistani community centre in Bahrain, he just laughed my question off.

If the offices of the Federal Ombudsman and the Grievance Commissioner for Overseas Pakistanis want to know the worth of their order, they would be better off asking the embassies in the Gulf and Middle East region to present clippings from the respective local national dailies covering such ‘monthly events’ rather than believing in what the embassy staff tell.

Muhammad Javed
Bahrain

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2024