Consulate General of Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday announcing a sign of relief for expatriate Pakistanis in the United Arab Emirates said that Consulate Dubai has started processing the registration of Pakistani nationals for repatriation from UAE.

The consulate is now waiting for the permission of the government of Pakistan for special flights that is expected soon.

The consulate in a tweet said, “Dear Citizens, Pakistan Consulate Dubai has received and processed the registration of Pakistani nationals for repatriation from UAE. We are waiting for permission from our government which is expected soon after that our Special Flight operations will start. You will be notified.”

https://twitter.com/ParepDubai/status/1249059366009032705

Ambassador to UAE Ghulam Dastgir said more than 25,000 Pakistanis in the UAE want to go home, the Gulf News reported.

The Pakistan ambassador said lack of quarantine and testing facilities back home are hampering the repatriation of thousands of stranded Pakistanis from the UAE and health authorities in Pakistan are not ready to receive such a large number of people.

According to Gulf News report, a week ago the Consulate had already started collecting the data and more than 25,000 Pakistanis have registered themselves who want to go back home from UAE have registered with the Consul General during the last three days.

Consul General of Pakistan in Dubai Ahmed Amjad Ali told Gulf News that out of total around 10,000 are those who came here on visit visas, laid off or going on unpaid leave.

It is pertinent to note that Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bokhari on April 8 thanked the UAE government for taking care of 1.5m Pakistani diaspora in UAE in the challenging coronavirus time.

https://twitter.com/sayedzbukhari/status/1248233771477975041