ISLAMABAD: “Tourists welcome to Pakistan,” Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority tweeted over the weekend, unveiling the country’s renewed visa-on-arrival policy for group tourists from 24 countries – a decision praised by the Pakistan Tourism and Development Corporation (PTDC), which its officials had been pursuing for years to expand the tourism industry.
PTDC official Mukhtar Ali, who manages policy and promotion, told Arab News: “This policy was issued with consultation of all stakeholders. It was done in 2007 also but the deteriorating law and order situation impacted the policy which was reversed and a case-to-case visa grant procedure was applied. But the situation has changed now.”
The tweet came after a notification from the interior ministry to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) immigration wing to relax entry for nationals arriving from “tourist-friendly countries,” if the “tour is organized through designated tour operators” in Pakistan.
After arrival, tourists are required to meet an immigration officer for further information and must furnish relevant documents and sign official forms before the granting of a visa.
The FIA can issue a multiple-entry 30-day visa on arrival to nationals of the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, China, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Greece, Belgium, Austria, Finland, Iceland, Korea, Portugal, Singapore, Thailand, and Luxemburg.
Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor, managing director of the PTDC, said: “We will focus on overseas Pakistanis and foreign tourists during the year 2018. Visa policy for foreign tourists is required to be reviewed to facilitate more tourists from across the world.”
Ghafoor said that the British Backpacker Society has ranked Pakistan among the 20 top travel destinations for 2018.
Missing from the list are countries of the Middle East and Africa, among others.
“The number of Arab nationals (visiting Pakistan for tourism) is very low. We have focused on tourist-generating countries based on our statistics and the majority come from the West and elsewhere. A large number of them are those that seek mountaineering and adventure tourism,” said Ali.
He said tourism has been increasing gradually over the years but after 2013, after military operations to cleanse militancy and terrorism, the influx has jumped. In 2017, an estimated 1.7 million foreigners visited Pakistan, which is 200,000 more than the previous year, Ali added without specifying the number of tourists and business-related visitors.
Nasir Hussain, owner of Karakorum Explorers, a leading tour operator in Islamabad, told Arab News: “Individuals not part of a group can also visit and link up with a tour operator for discovery trips, safaris, or adventures.” He is enthusiastic that revenue will come to the tourism industry, which has faced losses since 9/11.
He said most of his customers are from European countries but “it would be good to have tourists from the Middle East, though not many travel for tourism or holidays to this destination.”
Pakistan is also allowing a 30-day single-entry business visa on arrival for 68 countries, including the Middle East. A letter of invitation from a Pakistani business entity is required, attached with a recommendation letter from a trade association or Chamber of Commerce and/or one from an investment counsellor or commercial attaché in Pakistan’s Mission Abroad.
Welcome to Pakistan: Islamabad to issue tourist visa ‘on arrival’ for 24 countries
Welcome to Pakistan: Islamabad to issue tourist visa ‘on arrival’ for 24 countries
Family of Palestine Action hunger-strike detainee warn she could die
- Teuta Hoxha, among 8 people held on remand for over a year, has not eaten in 43 days
- Campaigners slam treatment of pro-Palestine prisoners on hunger strike
LONDON: A Palestine Action prisoner in the UK could die if the government does not step in over her hunger strike, her family have warned, amid claims that authorities have been “deliberately negligent” in the treatment of other detained hunger strikers.
Teuta Hoxha, 29, is on day 43 of her strike, having been held on remand in prison for 13 months over charges relating to a break-in at an Israel-linked arms manufacturing facility in August 2024.
She is one of eight people on hunger strike who were detained for their part in the incident at the Elbit Systems UK site.
Her sister Rahma said she can no longer stand to pray, and suffers from headaches and mobility issues.
“I know that she’s already instructed the doctors on what to do if she collapses and she’s instructed them on what to do if she passes away,” Rahma, 17, told Sky News.
“She’s only 29 — she’s not even 30 yet and nobody should be thinking about that,” Rahma added. “She’s been on remand for over a year, her trial’s not until April next year and bail keeps getting denied.”
The eight hunger strikers charged over the Elbit Systems break-in, who deny all charges against them, are demanding an end to the operation of weapons factories in the UK that supply Israel.
They are also calling for Palestine Action, which is banned in the UK, to be de-proscribed, and for their immediate bail.
They are not the only members of Palestine Action in prison carrying out hunger strikes. Amu Gib, imprisoned over a break-in at a Royal Air Force base earlier this year, was taken to hospital last week, having not eaten in 50 days.
Gib was initially denied access to a wheelchair after losing mobility, and campaigners said it was “completely unacceptable” that this had led to a missed doctor’s appointment, adding that Gib was also denied access to the vitamin thiamine.
Campaign group Prisoners for Palestine said: “At this trajectory, the hunger strikers will die unless there is urgent intervention by the government.
“It is completely unacceptable and deliberately negligent to pretend the hunger strike is not happening, or to dismiss the prisoners’ demands.
“They are in the custody of the state, and any harm that comes to them is a deliberate outcome of the government’s negligence and the politicisation of their detention.”
A relative of Gib told The Independent: “We wouldn’t know if Amu is in a coma or had a heart attack. I’m the next of kin and it’s on Amu’s medical record that I am to be contacted in the event of their hospitalisation.
“But it’s been complete agonising silence for 57 hours. I’m furious and outraged that the prison was withholding thiamine from the hunger strikers, without which they are at high risk of brain damage.”
The treatment of the hunger strikers has drawn high-profile criticism, with Dr. James Smith, an emergency physician and lecturer at University College London, telling The Independent that they “are dying” and would require specialist medical help.
Around 900 medical professionals in the UK have written to government ministers David Lammy and Wes Streeting urging them to facilitate medical treatment for the strikers.
Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the governing Labour Party, posted on Instagram that he had visited Gib in prison.
Seven hunger strikers have so far been hospitalized since Nov. 2, when the first prisoners began to refuse food.
Jon Cink and Umar Khalid both ended their strikes for medical reasons, having been hospitalized, while Kamran Ahmed told the Sunday Times last week that dying for his cause would be “worthwhile.”
He added: “Every day I’m scared that potentially I might die. I’ve been getting chest pains regularly … There have been times where I felt like I’m getting tasered — my body’s vibrating or shaking. I’ll basically lose control of my feelings.
“I’ve been scared since the seventh day when my blood sugars dropped. The nurse said: ‘I’m scared you’re not going to wake up (when you go to sleep). Please eat something.’
“But I’m looking at the bigger picture of perhaps we can relieve oppression abroad and relieve the situations for my co-defendants … Yes, I’m scared of passing away. Yes, this may have lifelong implications. But I look at the risk versus reward. I see it as worthwhile.”
Under UK law, time limits are set out for those in custody awaiting trial to prevent excessive periods in pre-trial detention.
But UK Prisons Minister Lord Timpson said in relation to the Palestine Action detainees: “These prisoners are charged with serious offences including aggravated burglary and criminal damage.
“Remand decisions are for independent judges, and lawyers can make representations to the court on behalf of their clients.
“Ministers will not meet with them — we have a justice system that is based on the separation of powers, and the independent judiciary is the cornerstone of our system.
“It would be entirely unconstitutional and inappropriate for ministers to intervene in ongoing legal cases.”
Rahma says her sister calls her from prison every day, despite her predicament, to help with her studies.
“Our mother passed away when I was really young. Teuta took care of me and my siblings and made sure to read us bedtime stories.
“She’s always there for me and even from prison, she’s helping me do my homework and revise for exams.”
Rahma added: “My sister is a caring and loving person It feels like the state has taken a piece of me.”
She continued: “The only form of resistance she has is her body and that’s what she is using against the state.”
