KARACHI — Pakistani authorities are encouraging people to buy sacrificial animals online or at least wear masks when visiting cattle markets, fearing preparations for the Muslim festival of Eid Al-Adha could reverse a decline in COVID-19 infection numbers.
Government social-distancing restrictions this year including half-day closing have seen a drop in customers at the normally bustling markets which, like in other Muslim countries, are set up in urban centers ahead of one of Islam’s most important festivals.
The main cattle market of Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, was less busy on Sunday than in preceding years with just six days before festivities, Reuters witnesses said. Trader Allah Ditta, who traveled hundreds of miles to sell his stock, told Reuters his customers had almost halved.
Most visitors flouted a requirement to wear masks, and many were accompanied by children who this year are barred.
“I don’t understand this coronavirus. I have not seen anyone dying of it,” said trader Muhammad Akram. “Look around you: No one is wearing a mask.”
Pakistan has reported over 270,000 COVID-19 cases with almost 6,000 deaths. Daily cases of new infection numbered just under 1,200 on Sunday versus a peak last month nearing 7,000 around another festival, Eid Al-Fitr.
“In the last four weeks there has been significant slowdown in the pandemic’s spread, with an 80% decline in deaths,” State Minister of Health Zafar Mirza said on Sunday — three weeks after he himself tested positive for COVID-19.
“Last Eid, since gatherings increased, people traveled, and this interaction caused cases to spike,” Mizra said. “People should take it very seriously and act responsibly. There is a chance that cases might go up again, like Spain.”
While market visitors have fallen, more people are paying charities to slaughter cattle on their behalf and deliver their cut to them or donate it to the needy.
Shakil Dehelvi, joint secretary-general of Alamgir Welfare Trust, said the charity had received its target booking number twice as quickly as last year.
Pakistan urges worshippers to buy sacrificial animals online to prevent COVID-19 surge
https://arab.news/bqw7t
Pakistan urges worshippers to buy sacrificial animals online to prevent COVID-19 surge
- Cattle market less busy this year than preceding years as more people stay indoors over coronavirus fears
- While market visitors have fallen, more people are paying charities to slaughter cattle on their behalf
Pakistan says illegal immigration to Europe down 47 percent amid major crackdown
- Over 1,700 human smugglers arrested nationwide this year, interior ministry says
- EU praises Pakistan’s efforts as Brussels, Islamabad agree to deepen cooperation
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has achieved a 47 percent drop in illegal immigration to Europe this year, with more than 1,700 human smugglers arrested as part of an expanded nationwide crackdown, the interior ministry said on Thursday.
The announcement followed Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s meeting in Brussels with European Union Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner, where both sides discussed efforts to curb human smuggling and strengthen migration cooperation.
Pakistan intensified action against illegal migration in 2023 after hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank off the Greek town of Pylos, one of the deadliest boat disasters in the Mediterranean. Authorities say they continue to target networks sending citizens abroad through dangerous routes, following heightened scrutiny at airports and a series of arrests involving forged documents.
“Commissioner Magnus Brunner paid strong tribute to the Government of Pakistan for achieving a 47 percent reduction in attempts to reach Europe through illegal ‘dunki’ routes during the past year and described Pakistan’s measures as exemplary,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
“Dunki routes” refer to irregular migration paths used by smugglers to move people across multiple borders toward Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Pakistani authorities say the routes are controlled by transnational criminal networks that also engage in document fraud and other illicit activities.
“Mohsin Naqvi stated that 1,770 human smugglers and their agents have been arrested in Pakistan this year, which clearly reflects the government’s zero-tolerance policy against illegal immigration,” the interior ministry said.
It added that Pakistan and the EU agreed to coordinate future strategies against illegal immigration, human smuggling and drug trafficking, including deeper information-sharing between law enforcement bodies. Brunner would soon visit Pakistan to acknowledge the country’s efforts and discuss next steps in reducing irregular migration flows, the statement said.
It also quoted Naqvi as saying that the nexus between smuggling networks, drug mafias and militant groups posed a major challenge to Pakistan and required “international cooperation to confront it.”
Earlier in December, Pakistan announced it would roll out an AI-based immigration screening system in Islamabad from January next year to detect forged travel documents and prevent illegal departures.
In September, Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency released a list of more than 100 of the country’s “most wanted” human smugglers as part of its ongoing nationwide operation, identifying major hubs of trafficking activity across Punjab and the capital.
