PM says monitoring Bishkek situation; directs envoy to help Pakistani students,
Interior Minister welcomes evacuated students at Lahore Airport,
Lahore; Distressed Pakistani students reach home in first flight from Bishkek, In a swift and decisive response to recent attacks on students in Kyrgyzstan, a special flight from Bishkek carrying 180 passengers, including 140 Pakistani students, safely landed at Lahore Airport.
As the recently unfolding situation in Kyrgyzstan has put the students at risk, the first flight carrying 180 passengers has reached Lahore.
The flight KA-571 landed at the Lahore Airport.
Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi welcomed the students at the airport where he was flanked by the airport’s Chief Operating Officer and several senior officials.
Airport Manager Nazir Ahmad Khan said separate counters have been set up in the international arrival lounge for the passengers arriving in the flight while orders have also been issued to the FIA for the timely immigration of students and passengers coming from Bishkek.
Sources said two separate flights would also bring 360 students stuck in Kyrgyzstan tomorrow with one flight to land in Lahore and the other in the capital.
Dozens of Pakistani students were wounded in mob violence around student hostels in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, on Friday night,
According to some media reports, a recent fight between Egyptian students and local Kyrgyz people has been wrongly blamed on Pakistani students, leading to violent attacks on their hostels in Bishkek.
The attackers forcibly entered the hostels, broke the doors of the rooms and tortured and injured several students.
On the other hand, Pakistan’s embassy in Kyrgyzstan has advised the Pakistani students in Bishkek to stay indoors until the situation returns to normalcy. The embassy is also in contact with the local law-enforcement authorities to ensure safety of Pakistani students.
In a social media post, Ambassador of Pakistan in Bishkek Hasan Zaigham assured that the embassy was liasing with the local law-enforcement authorities to ensure safety of the Pakistani students.
The envoy also shared helpline numbers +996555554476 and +996507567667, asking the students to call in case of emergency.
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“In view of mob violence around student hostels in Bishkek, the embassy strongly advises all Pakistani students in Bishkek to stay indoors until the situation returns to normal. We are liasing with the local law-enforcement authorities to ensure safety of our student fraternity,” the ambassador said.
Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra-Baloch also reposted the envoy’s message and said the embassy was in contact with the Kyrgyz authorities to facilitate Pakistani students as their safety was of paramount importance for the ambassador and his team.
Various social media posts also reported the incidents of mob violence in the hostels housing foreign students in Bishkek, along with the footages and imagery, with many appealing to the relevant authorities for immediate help to the Pakistani students.
According to Ambassador Hasan Zaigham, the embassy staff was continuously responding to the calls from the Pakistani students and extending maximum possible support to them. “The Embassy of Pakistan is doing its best to help Pakistani students in distress,” he responded to an X post.
FO spokesperson Baloch also seconded the ambassador, saying he and his team were available on the given emergency numbers which are also available on WhastApp.“They have responded to hundreds of queries by students and their families. In case the numbers do not connect because of phone traffic, please text/WhatsApp,” she advised.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep concern over the attacks on students from Pakistan and other countries in Kyrgyzstan. He directed the Pakistani ambassador in Bishkek to provide all possible help to the Pakistani students.
Deeply concerned over the situation of Pakistani students in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I have directed Pakistan’s Ambassador to provide all necessary help and assistance,” earlier, the prime minister wrote on his X timeline.
According to Pakistan’s Embassy in Bishkek, foreign students living in Bishkek including those from Pakistan, were subjected to violence by locals in the aftermath of their earlier brawl with Egyptian nationals a few days ago.
As per reports, some hostels of medical universities in Bishkek and private residences of international students including those of Pakistanis were attacked. However, the embassy said that so far, they had received no confirmed reports of death or rape of any Pakistani student there.
“My office is also in touch with the Embassy and constantly monitoring the situation,” the prime minister added.
Thousands of Pakistani students attacked by locals in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan: Details insidede
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said the Pakistani Embassy had provided emergency numbers and was continuously monitoring the situation.
On the other hand, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said reports of mob attacks on students in Kyrgyzstan were very disturbing. Dar said, “We are in contact with Kyrgyz authorities to ensure safety of Pakistani students.”
He said Pakistan’s envoy in Kyrgyzstan had been directed to provide all facilities to students.
Distressed Pakistani students reach home in first flight from Bishkek,
The Kyrgyzstan Ministry said that destructive forces are deliberately disseminating untrue and false information about the situation in the country to foreign media outlets and social networks, particularly in Pakistan.
The Kyrgyzstan Ministry said that destructive forces are deliberately disseminating untrue and false information about the situation in the country to foreign media outlets and social networks, particularly in Pakistan.
In a statement, Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic informs that destructive forces are deliberately disseminating untrue and false information about the situation in the Kyrgyz Republic in foreign mass media and social networks, especially in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”
Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged journalists and the blogger community to publish only official and confirmed information from the competent authorities of the country.
“Therefore, the Ministry urges public information media, bloggers, community representatives, as well as foreign experts to take only official and confirmed information from the competent authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic,” Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Reportedly, there have been several incidents of mob violence against foreign students in Bishkek since Friday evening, the Pakistan embassy in Kyrgyzstan said in a social media post, adding that the situation heated up.
“There have been a number of incidents of mob violence against foreign students in Bishkek since last evening. According to the Kyrgyz press, the matter boiled over yesterday due to sharing online of videos of a fight between Kyrgyz students and medical students from Egypt on May 13,” the Pakistan embassy in Kyrgyzstan stated.
