ISLAMABAD: Opposition lawmakers slammed the government’s decision to not repatriate Pakistani citizens stranded in China due to larger public interest in the wake of a global novel coronavirus outbreak.
The Senate session on Friday in Chair of Senate Chairman Saddiq Sanjrani witnessed heated debate as the opposition called for bringing back Pakistani students stuck in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, and for establishing a temporary quarantine to contain a possible outbreak in the country.
PML-N parliamentary leader Mushahidullah Khan called coronavirus an “epidemic and a global catastrophe”.
“The foreign minister and the health ministry need to take action immediately [in this regard]. There is a Pakistani embassy in China but nobody there seems to be active,” he claimed.
Criticising the government’s decision, he added that other countries were also evacuating their citizens from China.
“So far we have not adopted any precautionary measures. Whenever there is a problem, they just try to get rid of it. Their [students in China] mothers are crying and we have abandoned them,” he added.
PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz also sided with the views of the opposition and stated that students which show no signs of the virus should be allowed to enter the country while those that are sick should be quarantined.
However, PTI Senator Seemi Ezdi explained that it was in the best interest of the Pakistanis in China to stay there.
“They have better access to health facilities and are also trying to come up with a treatment for the virus. We cannot treat this virus. The government’s decision is in the best interest of the Pakistani citizens.”
Senator Sherry Rehman maintained that Pakistan has expressed solidarity with the Chinese government, but urged the government to take precautionary steps.
“Protecting their citizens is the prime responsibility of any country. The government should order kits for diagnosing coronavirus as the screening at airports is not helping us to diagnose cases,” she said,
Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani said that China has assisted Pakistan through thick and thin. “We should encourage China during this difficult time.”
He added that if Pakistani doctors wish to go to China to assist in efforts to tackle coronavirus, they should contact the Senate Health Committee.
It is pertinent to mention here that on Thursday, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza had announced that the government had decided not to repatriate Pakistani citizens stranded in China in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation.
“We believe that right now, it is in the interest of our loved ones in China [to stay there]. It is in the larger interest of the region, world, country that we don’t evacuate them now,” he had told reporters at a press conference in Islamabad.
Visit News Source webpage Abb Takk