Given the critical humanitarian situation in Gaza, Pakistan has sent humanitarian assistance for the Palestinians
ISLAMABAD: Given the critical humanitarian situation in Gaza, Pakistan has sent humanitarian assistance for the Palestinians.
After the visit of President Joe Biden to Tel Aviv on Tuesday and his telephonic conversation with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi, Egypt decided to open its borders for humanitarian aid into southern Gaza. Immediately after, Pakistan, which had prepared emergency aid in advance, was one of the first countries to send aid through Egypt.
“A chartered aircraft carrying 100 tons of essential medical supplies, tents, and blankets has departed from Islamabad for Egypt this afternoon. From Egypt, these items will be transferred for onward delivery to Palestinians. What we are sending is essential medicines, blankets and tents, which we believe are essential as the winter sets in and most of the housing has been destroyed in relentless bombing by the Israeli forces,” announced the spokesperson at the Foreign Offices on Thursday.
Earlier, at the weekly media briefing, she shrugged aside a statement given by the Israeli prime minister in an interview in which, just before the war, he said that the major threat for Israel is Pakistan.
“The entire world knows that Pakistan has a peaceful posture. It has always called for peace and dialogue with all countries including our neighboring countries. Pakistan has never initiated a war against any country. So, such baseless accusations are completely rejected,” she said.
Expressing disappointment at the debate at the UNSC, the spokesperson said, “Pakistan welcomes the joint communique which was released after the OIC Executive Committee Meeting on Palestine. The meeting reflects the consensus of the OIC countries and, among other demands, it has called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the lifting of siege and for establishment of humanitarian corridors for the people of Gaza. We are naturally disappointed with the results of the debate at the United Nations Security Council.”
She pointed out the international community needs to work together to ensure that peace prevails, ceasefire is attained and humanitarian assistance is allowed to go into Gaza.
To questions regarding the deadline for all illegal foreigners to leave Pakistan, she retreated, “The position of the Government of Pakistan is that the deadline for voluntary return of illegal foreigners to their home countries is 31st of October and from the 1st of November, the repatriation plan kicks in as per Pakistani laws.” In this regard, she confirmed that a briefing session was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for foreign missions in Islamabad.
“The briefing was on the illegal foreigners’ repatriation plan, and Ministry of Interior Secretary Aftab Durrani and Acting Foreign Secretary Ambassador Rahim Hayat Qureshi gave this briefing. The key points of the briefing were as follows:
a) The government has announced the IFRP (Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan) on 26th of September with a view to repatriate all illegal and undocumented foreigners including those who have overstayed their visas, with effect from 1st of November. The right to regulate inward and outward movement of foreigners is inherent in the sovereignty of every state. The IFRP is a step to this end. Every country has similar laws to regulate movement of foreign nationals.
b) The repatriation of illegal foreigners is a purely administrative and legal matter and will be dealt under the prevailing laws of Pakistan. All foreign nationals legally residing and registered in Pakistan are beyond the purview of this plan. The government remains committed to a thorough implementation of the IFRP in a phased and orderly manner and an elaborate institutional mechanism has been established to address any instances of harassment and maltreatment during the implementation of the plan.
c) The mechanism includes establishment of helplines at the federal and provincial levels to report any incidents for immediate redressal and formation of a high-level coordination committee at the Ministry of Interior to oversee implementation of the IFRP. This committee will be chaired by the interior secretary himself, said the spokesperson.
As India continues to deny visas to Pakistanis who want to attend the World Cup, the FO pointed out that it is the responsibility of India as the hosts of the ICC World Cup to provide a safe and conducive environment to the participating teams, including the Pakistani cricket team. “We believe it is the responsibility of ICC to ensure that India complies with its obligations as the host of the World Cup. On visas, Pakistan has been in constant contact with the Indian authorities and we have asked for urgent issuance of visas to all Pakistanis who are in possession of tickets for the World Cup matches. Similarly, we have asked for issuance of visas to all Pakistani journalists who have been accredited with the ICC. It is regrettable that Pakistani spectators and journalists have not been able to travel to India due to non-issuance of visas,” the spokesperson said.
Responding to an incident that took place last year in December, she explained that on the 29th of December, a package containing radiological material was intercepted at London’s Heathrow Airport. This was followed by a hype in the British and Indian media outlets alleging that the confiscated material originated from Pakistan and it was meant for terrorism purposes.
“On the 9th of June, the British government informed that the UK Police and relevant agencies have completed and closed their investigation and determined that the package was found to contain scrap material as well as three metal bars containing traces of depleted uranium,” she said.
According to investigations, the amount of the contaminated material was limited and assessed as posing no threat to public safety, and no ill-intent by the parties was found. “Pakistan took the matter quite seriously and our relevant agencies made a thorough investigation. Investigations revealed that the confiscated metal pieces were scrap samples shipped by a private scrap dealer. The investigations conducted by British authorities aligned with Pakistan’s position. The British High Commission in a note verbale in June has acknowledged Pakistan’s cooperation in this matter,” she said.