Over 50 Pakistanis imprisoned in Sri Lanka due to return home today

Over 50 Pakistanis imprisoned in Sri Lanka due to return home today
Special Task Force (STF) personnel deploy at Mahara prison on the outskirts of Colombo on November 30, 2020. (AFP/File)
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Updated 06 October 2024
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Over 50 Pakistanis imprisoned in Sri Lanka due to return home today

Over 50 Pakistanis imprisoned in Sri Lanka due to return home today
  • The return of these Pakistani prisoners follows months of diplomatic negotiations between Pakistani and Sri Lankan authorities
  • Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi spearheaded the effort, while Privatization Minister Abdul Aleem Khan announced bearing all expenses

ISLAMABAD: More than 50 Pakistanis, who had been imprisoned in Sri Lanka, were due to return home on Sunday, Pakistani state media reported.

The return of these Pakistani prisoners follows months of diplomatic negotiations between Pakistani and Sri Lankan authorities.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi spearheaded the efforts to secure their release, while Privatization Minister Abdul Aleem Khan announced bearing all expenses in this regard.

“A chartered flight has left for Sri Lanka to bring the Pakistani prisoners back,” the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.

Naqvi expressed his gratitude to the Sri Lankan government and the high commissioner for their support in this regard, according to the report.

Sri Lankan High Commissioner Ravindra Chandra Srivijay Gunaratne met Naqvi in July and discussed with him matters of mutual interest, including the release of Pakistani nationals imprisoned in Sri Lanka.

A total of 23,456 Pakistani citizens are imprisoned in various countries, local media reported, citing the Pakistani Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights.

Of them, 15,587 have been convicted of different offenses and 7,869 are under-trial.


Extreme heat puts garment factory workers at risk in Pakistan, Vietnam and Bangladesh

Extreme heat puts garment factory workers at risk in Pakistan, Vietnam and Bangladesh
Updated 25 sec ago
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Extreme heat puts garment factory workers at risk in Pakistan, Vietnam and Bangladesh

Extreme heat puts garment factory workers at risk in Pakistan, Vietnam and Bangladesh
  • New European Union regulations make retailers selling in the bloc legally liable for conditions at suppliers
  • Fixes to cool factories could include better ventilation and water evaporative cooling systems, study says

LONDON: Workers in some of the world’s biggest garment manufacturing hubs in Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Pakistan are increasingly exposed to extreme heat as climate change pushes temperatures up, a report found on Sunday, a problem multinational retailers and brands will have to help address.

New European Union regulations make retailers selling in the bloc, like Inditex, H&M and Nike, legally liable for conditions at their suppliers, putting pressure on them to help fund improvements to cool factories they source from.

In Dhaka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh and Karachi, the number of days with “wet-bulb” temperatures — a measurement that accounts for air temperature as well as humidity — above 30.5 degrees Celsius jumped by 42 percent in 2020-2024 compared to 2005-2009, researchers at Cornell University’s Global Labor Institute found.

Above that threshold, the International Labor Organization recommends as much rest as work in any given hour to maintain safe core body temperature levels.

The report identified only three retailers — Nike, Levi’s, and VF Corp. — which specifically include protocols to protect workers from heat exhaustion in their supplier codes of conduct.

COMPANIES WARNED

“We’ve been talking to brands for ages now about this issue, and they’re only now starting to turn their attention to it,” Jason Judd, executive director at Cornell University’s Global Labor Institute, told Reuters.

“If a brand or retailer knows that temperatures in a production area are excessively high or doing damage to worker health, then they’re obligated under this new set of rules to do something about it,” he added.

The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive came into force in July and will start applying to large companies from mid-2027.

Fixes to cool factories could include better ventilation and water evaporative cooling systems, instead of energy-intensive and expensive air conditioning that would increase manufacturers’ carbon emissions.

Some factory owners would likely be willing to make such investments themselves, given how heat stress significantly impacts productivity, Judd said, but the EU rules highlight brands’ responsibility to address the issue too.

The report also urged retailers and brands to invest in higher wages and health protections so that workers can manage the risk of missing work days due to heatwaves.

Extreme heat and flooding could erase $65 billion in apparel export earnings from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan, and Vietnam by 2030, research from asset manager Schroders and the Global Labor Institute found last year.


Foreign Office says will repatriate Pakistanis stranded in Syria once Damascus airport reopens

Foreign Office says will repatriate Pakistanis stranded in Syria once Damascus airport reopens
Updated 27 min 56 sec ago
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Foreign Office says will repatriate Pakistanis stranded in Syria once Damascus airport reopens

Foreign Office says will repatriate Pakistanis stranded in Syria once Damascus airport reopens
  • Pakistan’s embassy says more than 1,300 Pakistani expatriates and pilgrims are currently stranded in Syria
  • Pakistani pilgrims and expatriates have expressed fears for their safety and called for immediate repatriation

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Office said on Sunday that it would repatriate more than 1,300 Pakistanis stranded in Syria once the Damascus airport reopens, following the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government.
Syria opposition forces raced into Damascus unopposed on Sunday, overthrowing President Assad and ending nearly six decades of his family’s iron-fisted rule after a lightning advance that reversed the course of a 13-year civil war.
In one of the most consequential turning points in the Middle East for generations, the fall of Assad’s government wiped out a bastion from which Iran and Russia exercised influence across the Arab world. Moscow gave him and his family asylum.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office said it was closely monitoring the evolving situation in Syria as shops and restaurants closed early in line with a curfew imposed by the Syrian opposition and people could be seen briskly walking home with stacks of bread.
“Pakistani nationals are safe in Syria and have been advised to exercise caution. The Embassy of Pakistan in Syria is open for support and advice,” the Foreign Office said on Sunday night.
“As of now Damascus Airport is closed. Our embassy remains in contact with stranded Pakistani nationals, including Zaireen [pilgrims]. It will facilitate their return once the airport opens.”
Pakistan’s embassy in Syria said it was focusing on accommodating Pakistani nationals at a school run by it so that they could have a secure place to stay while it arranges flights for their repatriation to Pakistan.
Muhammad Nafees, an official at the Pakistani embassy in Damascus, told Arab News that Syria’s airports and borders with Jordan and Oman were currently closed, posing a “major challenge” to the repatriation effort.
The official said there were around 1,200 Pakistanis expatriates living in Syria, while around 140 Pakistani pilgrims were stranded in the Sayyidah Zaynab city near Damascus.
“They were supposed to return from the pilgrimage by December 10, but are unable to proceed due to the suspension of flight operations and non-functional airports,” he added.
Separately, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, held a telephonic conversation with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on the unfolding situation in Syria.
“They also discussed possible cooperation between the two countries for the safety of the Pakistan nationals,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said.
Speaking to Arab News on Sunday, Pakistani pilgrims and expatriates in Syria expressed fears for their safety and called for expediting efforts to repatriate them.
Abeel Hassan, a pilgrim from Pakistan’s Parachinar, said although the situation was calm so far, the pilgrims were worried about their safety.
“Our group consists of 14 people, including women, and we have limited finances and cannot afford an extended stay at the hotel,” he said.
Ilyas Naqvi, a Pakistani expatriate from Islamabad who has been living and working in Sayyidah Zaynab along with his wife and two sons since 2000, wished for immediate repatriation.
“We request that our embassy and the Government of Pakistan act swiftly to evacuate us from Syria as soon as possible as many of us have small children,” he told Arab News, adding that there were around 200 Pakistanis, including women and children, living in Sayyidah Zaynab.
“Although the new forces have not yet threatened the people, everyone is very scared.”


Chinese firm to establish textile parks in Pakistan to boost trade, technology transfer — Islamabad’s envoy

Chinese firm to establish textile parks in Pakistan to boost trade, technology transfer — Islamabad’s envoy
Updated 08 December 2024
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Chinese firm to establish textile parks in Pakistan to boost trade, technology transfer — Islamabad’s envoy

Chinese firm to establish textile parks in Pakistan to boost trade, technology transfer — Islamabad’s envoy
  • The textile parks would be set up by Ruyi Shandong Group, which has expanded globally over the past decade through acquisitions, investments
  • It will establish international-standard textile parks in Sindh, Punjab to help generate up to $5 billion in textile exports from Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) and Pakistan’s Board of Investment have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the establishment of textile parks in Pakistan by Chinese firm Ruyi Shandong Group, Pakistani state media reported on Sunday, citing Islamabad’s envoy to Beijing.
The CNTAC is China’s national textile association and an integrated non-profit legal entity that acts as a self-disciplined intermediary for the industry. The understanding between the two sides was reached at the China Textile Conference held in Shaoxing this week.
Focusing on innovation environment, materials, artificial intelligence and production processes, the participants at the conference discussed leading trends in industry innovation, aiming to promote transformation and optimization of the global textile supply chain.
“The textile sector is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy and major contributor to its exports,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi was quoted as saying by the Radio Pakistan broadcaster.
“These textile parks would enhance bilateral trade, foster technology transfer, and enhance capacity [of Pakistani textile industry].”
Beijing has invested over $65 billion in energy, infrastructure and other projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, that aims to connect China to the Arabian Sea through a network of roads, railways, pipelines and ports in Pakistan and help Islamabad expand and modernize its economy.
The textile parks would be set up by Ruyi Shandong Group, one of China’s largest textile and clothing manufacturers, which has expanded globally over the past decade through acquisitions and investments, according to Pakistani officials.
The group has previously invested in a coal power plant in Pakistan under the CPEC and will establish international-standard textile parks in Sindh and Punjab provinces to help generate up to $5 billion in textile exports from Pakistan. The foundation stone of the parks is expected to be laid by the end of this year and they would employ up to 500,000 people.


Pakistan receives 72,000 applications for government Hajj scheme as Dec. 10 deadline approaches

Pakistan receives 72,000 applications for government Hajj scheme as Dec. 10 deadline approaches
Updated 08 December 2024
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Pakistan receives 72,000 applications for government Hajj scheme as Dec. 10 deadline approaches

Pakistan receives 72,000 applications for government Hajj scheme as Dec. 10 deadline approaches
  • Saudi Arabia has allotted Pakistan a quota of 179,210 pilgrims for upcoming Hajj pilgrimage
  • Pakistan allowed intending pilgrims to pay Hajj fees in installments for the first time this year

KARACHI: Pakistan has received 72,000 applications for this year’s Hajj pilgrimage under the government scheme, the religious affairs ministry said on Sunday, two days before the expiry of Dec. 10 deadline to submit applications.
Saudi Arabia has allotted Pakistan a total quota of 179,210 pilgrims for the upcoming Hajj pilgrimage, which would be divided equally between the government and private schemes. Around 15 Pakistani banks started receiving applications from intending pilgrims on Nov. 18
The government last week extended the Dec. 3 deadline to submit applications to Dec. 10 to receive applications for 21,000 seats still vacant. All applications received till Dec. 3 have been accepted, including the ones received through the sponsorship scheme.
“Two days are left to enter the government Hajj scheme,” the religious affairs ministry said in a statement. “Designated banks will continue receiving Hajj applications on Monday and Tuesday.”
Last year, Pakistan surrendered 21,000 Hajj seats to Saudi Arabia due to a shortage of applications, but this year the government is hopeful of achieving the required number of applications till December 10.
The religious affairs ministry last month announced the country’s Hajj 2025 policy, allowing pilgrims for the first time to pay Hajj fees in installments.
Under the government scheme, the first installment of Hajj dues, Rs200,000 ($717), must be deposited along with the Hajj application, while a second installment of Rs400,000 ($1,435) has to be deposited within ten days of the balloting. The remaining amount has to be deposited by Feb. 10 next year.
According to the religious affairs ministry, overseas Pakistanis can also sponsor their loved ones for the pilgrimage. The ministry has also launched the “Pak Hajj 2025” mobile application to guide and facilitate pilgrims. The app is available for both Android and iPhone users.
The Pakistani government has also announced a reduction in airfares for Hajj 2025, with a Rs14,000 ($50) drop in ticket prices. Pilgrims enrolled in the federal program will now pay Rs220,000 for airfare, down from last year’s Rs234,000.
National carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Saudi Airlines and other private airlines have agreed to the relief package, according to the Pakistani government.


Ex-PM Khan’s party announces jirga in Peshawar on Dec. 13 to discuss grievances

Ex-PM Khan’s party announces jirga in Peshawar on Dec. 13 to discuss grievances
Updated 08 December 2024
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Ex-PM Khan’s party announces jirga in Peshawar on Dec. 13 to discuss grievances

Ex-PM Khan’s party announces jirga in Peshawar on Dec. 13 to discuss grievances
  • Khan’s party on Nov. 24 led thousands of supporters to Islamabad, seeking to pressure the government to release the ex-premier from jail
  • The protests resulted in clashes that government says killed four law enforcers, while the party says 12 supporters were killed in crackdown

ISLAMABAD: Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party will hold a jirga, or meeting of elders, in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on December 13 to discuss its grievances with the federal government, a senior PTI figure said on Sunday, following last month’s protests by Khan supporters in Islamabad that turned violent.
Khan’s party on Nov. 24 led thousands of supporters to Islamabad, seeking to pressure the government to release the ex-premier from jail and order an audit of Feb. 8 national election results. The protests resulted in clashes that Pakistan’s government says killed four law enforcers and injured hundreds of others.
The PTI has named 12 people and says it has evidence they lost their lives during the crackdown, however, several PTI members have given varied accounts of casualties during the protests. Pakistani authorities have denied the casualties, saying security personnel had not been carrying live ammunition during the protests.
The PTI has since been demanding a judicial probe into the crackdown in Islamabad on Nov 25 and during similar protests across the country on May 9 last year, which it says killed eight people. The party also demands the release of all arrested political workers.
Speaking at a press conference in Peshawar, PTI’s Omar Ayub said thousands of their supporters had been injured during the Islamabad protests, while more than 5,000 had since been arrested by the federal authorities.
“A jirga will be held in Peshawar on December 13,” Ayub told reporters. “We will contact all parties and pay a tribute to our martyrs.”
Khan’s PTI party has staged several protests this year to demand the release of the ex-premier, who has been in jail since August last year on a slew of charges, as well as to challenge results of the Feb. 8 national election, which it says were manipulated to keep the party from coming to power in the country. The Pakistani government and election authorities deny this.
Last week, Khan threatened to launch a civil disobedience movement and asked supporters to converge on Dec. 13 in Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province which is ruled by his party.
Ayub said the ex-premier had formed a negotiation committee, comprising himself, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Asad Qaiser and Hamid Raza. He, however, did not clarify who the committee would hold talks with.
“If our demands were not met, then we will head toward civil disobedience,” he added.