Dubai: Pakistani expatriates have sought their representation in their country’s Parliament ahead of the upcoming general elections.
A proposal in this regard has been submitted to the country’s Prime Minister, the Supreme Court and Election Commission of Pakistan by the Overseas Pakistanis Federation (OPF), said Barrister Amjad Malek, the chairman of the federation’s board of directors.
Speaking to the media and the community members in Dubai on Monday, he said the proposal was made on behalf of eight million overseas Pakistanis across the world. Around 1.4 million Pakistani expatriates live in the UAE.
“Without our representation, we are undefended … We want our representatives in both the houses of the parliament. They will be able to defend us and our interests,” said Malek.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan is currently hearing petitions seeking voting rights for overseas Pakistanis.
While it is very unlikely that they would be able to exercise their franchise in the upcoming general elections, Malek said the OPF has sought allocation of five seats each in the Senate and National Assembly for overseas Pakistanis so that they can also push for voting rights and other demands of the expatriate community.
Malek, who addressed the community’s concerns, said an aid of Rs800million was offered last year to the families of overseas Pakistani workers who died at work in the Gulf countries.
He said the OPF housing scheme has provided small plots and houses for blue collar workers as part of a pilot project. “We have asked the government for provision for bigger housing project area.”
A proposal to set up a university in Saudi Arabia for children of expats in the Gulf countries is under consideration. Additionally, Rs5million has been allocated for e-learning for expat children who are unable to afford education.
From this summer, expat children will be offered paid internship programmes through OPF, Malek announced.
Asma Ali Awan, community welfare attaché at the Pakistan Consulate in Dubai, said Pakistani missions spent Rs 20 million as financial support for 466 families in the UAE from September 2016 to March 2018.
During the same period, a total of 1,226 deaths were recorded in the UAE.
The missions spent Rs2.5million for free transportation of bodies of 29 expatriates.
A total of 118 jail visits were held to offer consular access to as many as 1,838 Pakistani prisoners in the UAE.
The missions offered legal support to families of prisoners at a cost of Rs89,800.
The missions also facilitated the recruitment of 71,244 workers by securing and attesting demand letters for manpower as part of efforts to increase the export of manpower from Pakistan.
A total of 4,450 FERC and OPF membership cards were also processed by the missions in the past 18 months.
