ISLAMABAD, 16 December 2005 — Pakistan has imposed a complete ban on adoption of those orphans who lost their parents during the Oct.8 earthquake.
Federal Minister for Social Welfare Zubaida Jalal told the National Assembly during question hour here yesterday,”We have decided to look after the thousands of orphans. We have imposed a complete ban on adoption of these children.”
She said: “The government has planned to establish children’s villages in Azad Kashmir and the North Western Frontier Province.”
She said the government will take action against those functionaries flouting this ban, adding that the government has allocated 12.93 million rupees for the upkeep of orphans in special villages where they will receive complete health and education cover.
Salima Agha Khan, wife of Karim Agha Khan, who is visiting Pakistan announced last evening the establishment of eight villages for orphans at Chilar, Mirpur, Rawalakot, Bagh, Balakot, and some other townships of the Frontier province.
The move followed the National Assembly’s criticism of Angeline Jolie’s adoption of an orphan. The minister denied this.
Meanwhile, Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad ibn Khalifa, daughter of the emir of Qatar, arrived here yesterday at the head of two shipments of aid from Qatar for Pakistan’s quake survivors.
The shipments included blankets, sleeping bags and tents for tens of thousands of children in Azad Kashmir and Northwestern Frontier Province.
“These are desperate times for people of Pakistan and we hope to help our brother and sisters,” Mayassa, who is leading a delegation of officials from the “Reach Out to Asia” campaign and other Qatar-based charities, told reporters on her arrival.
She expressed concern that hundreds of thousands of people in quake-hit areas still faced the “onslaught” of what is expected to be a harsh winter.
Sheika Mayassa is scheduled to meet with Pakistani government officials and education authorities to discuss reconstruction efforts in devastated areas.
Meanwhile, the service on the bus line that runs between India- and Pakistan-administered Kashmir and was established in moves toward peace between Islamabad and New Delhi was partially restored yesterday after being suspended by the October earthquake, officials said.
The bus service, called the Caravan of Peace, resumed its operations from Srinagar to the Kaman post on the Line of Control. However, since roads from the Line of Control to Muzaffarabad still need repairs, the bus service will not complete its full run and has yet to be fully restored. Regional passport officer S.L. Srinramlu said the post-quake inaugural run had seven passengers, five of whom were Kashmiris from Azad Kashmir.
In another development, former US President George Bush will be appointed special envoy of the United Nations for rehabilitation and reconstruction in quake-hit Pakistan, the official Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke to President Musharraf by telephone Wednesday night and informed him about Bush’s appointment.
— With input from agencies
