News Desk

DUBAI:  A lack of quarantine and testing facilities back home is hampering the repatriation of thousands of stranded Pakistanis from the UAE, says a top diplomate.

Pakistan Ambassador to the UAE Ghulam Dastgir said that more than 25,000 Pakistanis who are stranded in the UAE have already registered with their diplomatic missions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. “It is not an easy task to repatriate all of them during the current circumstances when the flights are closed and the country is under lockdown,” he told Gulf News while answering a question about why Pakistan government is not evacuating its stranded citizens from the UAE.

He said that repatriation process may start anytime soon but he cannot give any date as the situation is changing every day.

Ambassador explained that both the UAE and Pakistan governments are working together on this issue. “I am also putting pressure on my government to expedite the process while at the same time I am in touch with the UAE authorities concerned to sort out the issue. The UAE government is ready to repatriate Pakistanis but the various departments including the Health authorities back home are not ready to receive such a large number of people from abroad due to lack of quarantine facilities and lockdown in the country.”