ISLAMABAD: A day after the government announcement that Pakistani nationals will not be evacuated from novel coronavirus-hit China for the fear of the epidemic spreading across Pakistan, the Senate was informed on Friday that the decision was not final and as and when the situation warranted they could be brought back.

“It is not a definite decision and if the situation changes, we will evacuate the Pakistani students on its basis,” Leader of the House in the Senate Shibli Faraz told the upper house of parliament amid criticism by senators belonging to different political parties against the government’s earlier decision.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza on Thursday told a presser that the government had decided not to evacuate the Pakistanis from China for fear of the epidemic spreading across Pakistan.

Mr Faraz explained to senators that the situation was being closely monitored.

He said Pakistan’s ambassador to China Naghmana Hashmi was a competent officer and she was in touch with the Pakistani community on a 24/7 basis. About the concern over financial problems being faced by the students, Senator Faraz said 840 dollars had been deposited in the bank account of each university student in China so that they may order food online.

PM aide’s statement on evacuation of Pakistanis stranded in virus-hit areas not final, Senate told amid criticism

The senator insisted the government would strive for keeping the young Pakistani students in China out of harm’s way. He said the Chinese government was taking all-out steps to contain the epidemic and save lives irrespective of their nationalities.

The issue had been raised in the House by Senator Usman Kakar of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party. He said the remarks of the PM’s aide on health affairs were a cause for alarm for the families of the Pakistani nationals stranded in China. Mr Kakar said there were around 28,000 Pakistanis, including between 8,000 and 10,000 students, stranded in China.

Senator Kakar said the Pakistanis stranded in China must be brought back and kept at special observation centres for a specific time. “Such a bar on their return is nothing short of an act of murder,” the senator remarked.

Parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in the Senate Mushahidullah Khan said the matter was of utmost importance, as the coronavirus had emerged as a global threat.

He was of the opinion that quarantines should be established at all entry points where the evacuated people should be kept to avert the threat of disease’s outbreak.

The PML-N senator pointed out that several countries, including the United States, Japan and France, were evacuating their citizens from China. He said such occasions exposed the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf misgovernment. He said there was no justification for the ban on Pakistani citizens’ return from China and proposed the government to take effective precautionary measures to evacuate them.

Leader of the Opposition in the House Raja Mohammad Zafarul Haq also said the government should accept responsibility of its citizens in China and criticised the government’s decision not to evacuate Pakistani nationals from virus-hit China.

Former interior minister and PPP senator Rehman Malik demanded the government withdraw its announcement not to evacuate the Pakistanis from China.

He said one or two C-130s should be sent to airlift the Pakistani nationals willing to return to the country from China.

Referring to Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 thriller Contagion that imagined the spread of a deadly disease, Senator Malik prayed that the coronavirus outbreak was not part of a biological warfare.

PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz also supported the opposition demand for evacuation of Pakistanis from China. He was of the opinion that one airport each in China and Pakistan should be designated for the purpose. He suggested the government to set up isolation wards for such persons.

Jamaat-i-Islami Senator Sirajul Haq also criticised the government for its Thursday announcement and said arrangements for treatment of those affected by the disease should be made in cooperation with China, whereas the Pakistanis who were safe must be brought back to Pakistan. He said the government should maintain a contact with parents of Pakistani students in China and establish information centres for updates from China.

Senator Mushtaq Ahmad of the JI also said Dr Mirza’s statement was disappointing for parents of those studying in China. He said halal food was not available to Pakistanis in China and there was also scarcity of safe drinking water.

Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haidri of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) said the government decision not to evacuate Pakistani citizens for the fear of epidemic’s outbreak was inappropriate.

PPP Senator Behramand Tangi said his nephew, Azlan Tangi, too, was currently studying in China and according to a social media post by him, the Pakistani students were confined to their hostel rooms and were faced with extreme hardship.

PPP Parliamentary leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman said she was receiving painful messages from students in China facing extreme vulnerability and wondered as to why Pakistan could not bring back its citizens from China.

The House will meet again on Monday at 3pm.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2020