ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf on Wednesday said that about 25 percent of Pakistan's airspace had been reopened for repatriation of nationals stranded in various countries due to the pandemic. A new policy has been introduced starting from 20th June 2020. This policy will bring significant enhancement in the capacity to bring back stranded Pakistanis from across the world.

While addressing media after a meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) along with Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari in Islamabad, Yusuf said that all efforts were being made to bring back stranded Pakistanis to their homeland within a month.

"About eight airports are operational across the country for the purpose," he said.

While announcing the policy, Dr Yusuf said that the above policy was a vindication of Prime Minister Imran Khan's resolve to provide relief to the overseas Pakistanis and to bring them back to their homeland. Furthermore, he said that it was the right of the Pakistanis to return to their home. "We should stop stigmatizing them." He also stated that "we are trying to bring all of the stranded Pakistanis within one month."

Under the direction of PM Imran Khan, this relief has been provided to the Pakistanis in foreign countries to facilitate their return to their homeland.

Noting that 45,000 Pakistanis will be brought back to the country and will be tested at airports subsequently, Yusuf ensured that all returning Pakistanis will be bound to undergo a 14-day self-quarantine at their homes.

Meanwhile, Bukhari said that around 80,000 Pakistanis and 600 bodies had so far been brought back to the country.

"All returning Pakistanis should follow the standard operating procedures and precautionary measures issued by the government," he said, adding that the returning nationals would be closely monitored in that regard.

Bukhari urged the returning Pakistanis - many of whom had been rendered unemployed - to register themselves on the ministry's website, so that they could benefit from Ehsaas and Kamyab Jawan programmes.

He said that the government was well informed about the problems being faced by the overseas Pakistanis and was working effectively to address their problems.

"Pakistanis have sent $20.6 billion in remittance to Pakistan after Covid-19, which is appreciable," he added.

Data on positive cases and their sources will be monitored as per current procedures, and further decisions will be taken by the NCOC to facilitate the timely repatriation.

Keeping in mind written requests from all the provinces, and most importantly, the plight of those stranded abroad, the new policy will allow to increase incoming passenger traffic to 40-45,000 per week. Passengers will be able to book tickets directly through airlines.

At the same time, we continue to operate a small number of special flights to countries that still have their airspace closed. Looking at the previous policy, so far, more than 75,000 Pakistanis have been repatriated since the re-opening of the airspace on the 3rd of April.

The NCOC has been continuously reviewing these processes, and the government in coordination with the provinces has been building capacity to ensure a continuous uptick in the number of Pakistanis repatriated each day.

Through data-backed policy changes and with the input of all key stakeholders, including the provincial governments, capacity was enhanced from 150 passengers per day on 3rd April to 1,900 passengers per day currently.

Approximately 98,000 stranded Pakistanis wish to return and are registered with our embassies abroad. Coupled with over 100,000 students wishing to return as well, the overall challenge of bringing back stranded Pakistanis rests at approximately 200,000 passengers.

It is also essential to note that while originally, all cases were being transmitted from outside Pakistan. Currently, local transmission is responsible for 96 percent of all the cases across the country.

One percent is attributed to zaireen (pilgrims), and only three percent of overall cases are from incoming passenger traffic, all of whom have been tested and quarantined accordingly.