ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s consulate in Dubai helped 61,000 overseas Pakistanis return home after the coronavirus broke out in the UAE, a statement from the office of Pakistani lawmaker and chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, Shehryar Khan Afridi, said on Sunday.
Afridi was at the Pakistani consulate in Dubai, meeting with overseas Pakistanis and heard their feedback regarding consular services being offered to them.
The UAE is home to 1.2 million Pakistanis and the second largest host to overseas Pakistani workers and source of foreign remittances, after Saudi Arabia.
Afridi is currently visiting the UAE to discuss matters of “national interest and the welfare of overseas Pakistanis at relevant forums,” the statement said.
Pakistani lawmaker and chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, Shehryar Khan Afridi, visits the Pakistan Consulate in Dubai and meets with overseas Pakistanis on Jan. 17, 2021. (Photo courtesy: Shehryar Afridi’s Office)
Consul General of Pakistan, Ahmed Amjad Ali, briefed Afridi about the workings of the Consulate and the special efforts and initiatives taken from time to time for the welfare of the community.
Afridi said Pakistan would ‘leave no stone unturned’ to help its diaspora resolve any issues and said the Consulate General had played “an exemplary role” in facilitating Pakistanis by arranging special flights during the pandemic.
Afridi also commended the provision of 17,500 ration bags distributed among stranded overseas Pakistanis.
On Wednesday, Afridi met with UAE’s Minister for Culture, Youth and Social Development, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al-Nahyan, and requested the minister to play a role in resolving any problems faced by Pakistanis living and working in the UAE.
