KARACHI, 4 July 2005 — The Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) held a seminar here recently on “Repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis on self-finance basis.” Poet, writer and former senator, Jamiluddin Aali, who presided over, appealed to President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to reactivate the Rabita Trust and start the repatriation and rehabilitation that had been shelved after 56 families were brought back to Pakistan in January 1993.
He said paucity of funds could be overcome if the PRC’s proposal of self-finance scheme was implemented. “The issue will remain alive until all Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh are repatriated and rehabilitated,” he added.
He reminded that the Rabita Trust established in 1988 by late President Zia-ul-Haq and Muslim World League’s former Secretary-General Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef had the mandate to rehabilitate 230,000 stranded Pakistanis in Punjab. He also called on PML President Shujaat Hussain and Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi to restart the process of settlement of stranded Pakistanis.
Another speaker Shoab-un-Nabi spoke about the PRC’s self-finance scheme proposal, which envisages giving Pakistani passports to some 37,000 male members of the stranded families. Rabita Trust, with the assistance of MWL and other Muslim bodies like the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Islamic Development Bank, could then seek jobs for them in the Middle East and subsequently generate funds for meeting housing and air ticket expenses for their families.
He suggested that the IDB and Pakistani banks should be approached to sanction interest-free loans to build 37,000 houses in Mian Channu, Okara and other districts in Punjab where land had been earmarked for them in 1992.
Afaq Shahid said Pakistan’s patriotic citizens who fought with the army should be brought back safely and respectfully.
Mahfuz Yar Khan said the repatriation issue was on the PML’s agenda and he would take it up with Shujaat and Mushahid Hussain.
Shafi Ahmed said while the repatriation issue was still hanging in the balance, even those who had returned to their homeland had not been issued the new ID cards.
PRC convener Ehsanul Haque urged the PML-MQM government in Sindh to assist the Punjab government in the rehabilitation process of the stranded Pakistanis.
He also called on the Edhi Trust, charitable wings of MQM, Jamaat-e-Islami, PML, PPP, Tehrik-e-Insaf, Ansar Burney Trust and others to arrange for the supply of food and medicines for the stranded people.
The seminar also demanded that the Pakistan High Commission in Bangladesh, UNHCR, ICRC, IIR and other national welfare and charitable institutions should look after the basic needs of the stranded Pakistanis living in Bangladesh camps.
Other guests and speakers included Ummat Editor in Chief Nasiruddin Hashmi, Jasarat Editor in Chief Athar Hashmi, Zafar Iqbal, Manzar Abbas, Hassan Siddiqui and Sarfraz A. Khan.
