Pakistanis stuck abroad have to seek help from Pakistan’s embassies, especially now when the new coronavirus pandemic is at its height and most countries are in a state of lockdown.

The question is, how helpful have they been so far to Pakistanis?

A local T.V invited three Pakistanis residing in three different countries on their show: Hasan Khan in Sri Lanka, Haji Adam Ismail in Singapore and Umer Mubeen in Turkey.

Khan went to Sri Lanka with his family and had plans of staying for 10 days or so, not knowing that he’ll be stranded their for weeks. He arrived in Colombo on March 7 and had a return flight booked for Karachi on March 19.

However, on March 18, Sri Lanka suspended its flight operations due to spiking cases of COVID-19 and imposed a curfew on March 20.

He has since been stuck there, but hailed the Pakistani embassy for consistently helping his family.

“I have a three-year-old and a five-year-old with me. The embassy is giving me diapers, medicine and anything else we are asking for,” said Khan.

“They’ve also been bearing our apartment’s rent since March 26. Their response has been very timely.”

But Ismail and Mubeen had the opposite experience.

Ismail said around 50 Pakistanis are stuck in Singapore. The 68-year-old said he and people around him are senior citizens and they have run out of medicine.

He complained that the embassy officials were not paying any heed to their calls for help despite submitting their documents, including plane tickets, CNICs and visas.

“They don’t even speak to us when we go to their office,” he said.

Mubeen, who’s stuck in Turkey, says the Pakistani embassy is not even picking up his calls. “I’ve been trying to contact them for 10 days,” he said.

He added that he even forwarded his details to Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi but hasn’t yet received a response.