Govt ignored overseas Pakistanis during corona crisis : Siraj ul Haq

Lahore : Ameer, Jamaat e Islami, Pakistan, Senator Siraj ul Haq, has said that the overseas Pakistanis who had been earning billions of foreign exchange for the country and helping the nation in every difficulty, had been totally ignored by the government during the corona crisis.

Addressing a press conference at Mansoora, he said that there was none to look after the Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia and the UAE and the Pak embassies there were not cooperating with them in any manner. He urged the government to repatriate these people on emergency basis and provide them free treatment and other facilities.

He said that one lakh thirty thousand Pakistanis in both these countries had applied for air tickets. He said that the schedule announced by the government today implied the repatriation of only three thousand Pakistanis till June ten.

Siraj ul Haq said that he had personally made every effort to contact the Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis these days but it was all in vain.
The JI chief said it was a matter of shame that the PIA was charging four, five times more than the normal fare from these people and the Commission mafia was filling its pockets by exploiting the helplessness of these people. He said that the government was charging Rs. 3000 per single night for quarantine from these people besides Rs. 1500 per day for meals. He demanded that these people should be provided these facilities
free of cost.

He said that if the PIA was short of funds, a reasonable amount out of the Corona Relief fund of Rs. 1200 billion announced by the government should be reserved for the overseas Pakistanis. He said that the Pakistanis returning home should be treated as guests and not as criminals.

Referring to the locusts issue, the JI Chief said that the governments had not taken effective measures to meet this challenge. He said the farmers had suffered heavy losses due to locust attack. He demanded that the farmers be compensated for their losses out of the Rs., 1200 billion Corona relief fund. He further said that the Tiger Force set up by the government could be
utilized to throw out the locusts.

Siraj ul Haq also urged the government to adopt appositive attitude towards the people whose corona test was positive. At present, he said, these people were being treated as terrorists and even their bodies were being disgraced.
The JI Chief also demanded that in the next year budget, the non-development expenditure should be dropped and higher amounts should be allocated for health and education.