Netherlands resumes consular services in Pakistan

Arab News
Ambassador of Netherlands Ardi Stoios-Braken and Deputy Ambassador Josephine Frantzen meeting Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Senator Sirajul Haq to discuss the possibility of working together on tolerance and inclusive societies. Media reported, on Monday, that Netherlands has temporarily halted visa and passport services in Pakistan, However the ambassador of Netherlands twitted later on Monday that Embassy has resumed its visa and passport services in Pakistan. (Embassy of Netherlands)
  • Media earlier reported that the Dutch Embassy had temporarily halted visa and passport services in Pakistan.
  • Dutch officials denied the embassy had closed over security concerns. 

ISLAMABAD: The Netherlands Embassy in Pakistan has resumed consular and visa services in the country after temporarily closing its doors and suspending operations last week. 

The ambassador of the Netherlands to Pakistan, Ardi Stoios-Braken, announced on social media on Monday that the embassy had resumed all consular and visa services in the country. 

“Update: The embassy of the Netherlands in Pakistan has resumed all consular/visa services. VFS/Gerry’s in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad can immediately start giving appointments to accept visa applications,” the Dutch ambassador said in a tweet. 

Earlier in the day, media reported that the Dutch Embassy had temporarily halted visa and passport services in the country. 

According to Reuters, the Dutch Foreign Ministry denied that its embassy had closed over security concerns after it gave shelter to the lawyer of a Christian woman involved a blasphemy case.

Following a Supreme Court decision to acquit Aasia Bibi on blasphemy charges, her lawyer, Saiful Mulook, was assisted by the UN to move to the Netherlands.

“The embassy of the Netherlands in Pakistan is open. The issuance of visa has been halted temporarily. Last week, the embassy was temporarily closed for two days because of construction work,” the embassy said earlier in the day.

The Supreme Court last Thursday acquitted Bibi after she spent nine years in prison. The decision sparked countrywide protests that brought many cities to a halt. 

Pakistan has had a complicated relationship with the Netherlands since the far-right politician Geert Wilders announced a cartoon competition in which contestants were asked to draw Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Demonstrations against the competition spread around Pakistan with the government approaching Dutch officials to lodge a protest.

 After Wilders canceled the contest, a series of blasphemous tweets by the politician led to a chain of formal protests by Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua.

Janjua summoned the ambassador of the Netherlands to the Foreign Office in Islamabad to lodge a strong protest, saying: “Such acts cannot be allowed with impunity under the pretext of freedom of expression.

“These discriminatory incidents spread hate and intolerance, and provoke extremism and violence, which are prohibited under human rights laws and standards.”

Topics: Netherlands Pakistan