Pak Embassy officials meet students in Wuhan

ISLAMABAD: A two-member special task force from the Pakistan Embassy in Beijing has reached Wuhan city to meet the Pakistani students at different universities and will remain there until the lockdown in Wuhan is lifted.

The special request allowed by the Chinese authorities only to Pakistan was greatly needed, as these students had started to panic and their families were troubled especially when they saw other countries air-lifting their citizens.

It is indeed encouraging that the Pakistani diplomats are taking a great risk to enter Wuhan which has been sealed off from the rest of China. Pakistan had decided that with a weak health support framework it could not risk bringing back these students — a decision which was criticized by many, including the families of the students.

Video messages of the students on the social media also showed their desperation and countless appeals to bring them home. The Foreign Office said the task force will get a first-hand information, meet with students in different universities and focus on their well-being and safety.

“The task force is permanently deployed in Wuhan and coordinating with Chinese authorities. The force would return to their homes in Beijing once the lockdown in Wuhan is lifted in its entirety and on-ground situation is completely stabilized,” said the Foreign Office in a statement.

The task members, Third Secretary Junaid and Education Attaché Suleman, reached Wuhan city yesterday. “Today, they visited the Pakistani students in four universities. They also met with the administrative staff in each university to get first-hand information on the well-being and needs of our students,” added the statement.

Tomorrow they will visit students and the administrative staff in three other universities to ensure that the daily needs and safety of the students in being ensured. “All the students in the universities visited today are safe, healthy and well looked after. Three Pakistani students in Guangzhou city and one in Wuhan who were infected by the coronavirus have fully recovered and discharged from the hospitals,” said the Foreign Office.

It pointed out that the situation in Wuhan and Hubei province is showing increased signs of improvement. The number of daily reported infected cases is gradually decreasing, the markets and shopping places are being opened and courier services have been resumed.

As a special gesture to the Pakistani students, the Foreign Office pointed out that on the first day of lockdown on 23 January 2020, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi instructed the authorities concerned about the safety and well-being of Pakistani students in Hubei province and China.

The State Councilor is personally monitoring the condition of Pakistani students on a daily basis. “The Chinese government has given complete re-assurance that it regards well-being and safety of Pakistani students as important as of their own nationals and would make all efforts to their satisfaction,” said the Foreign Office.

The Chinese government took measures to ensure the provision of basic amenities to Pakistani students including food and water availability, regular medical checkup, spray of disinfectant in students’ dormitories and residential places, twice daily monitoring of body temperature, protective masks and gloves.

All those in need of any medical attention are provided with immediate and best available medical care. Similarly, there is provision of psychological counseling is also to those facing stress and depression.