Islamabad: Pakistan embassy in Ukraine said on Sunday that the majority of 3,000 Pakistanis in Ukraine have either reached in the safe zone or have left the country. The embassy is in the process of evacuating the remaining 500 to 600 Pakistani nationals from Ukraine.
Most of the Pakistanis had been evacuated from the Ukrainian cities of Ternopil and Lviv to Poland, Hungary and Romania. “There were about 3,000 Pakistani students in Ukraine,” Pakistan’s ambassador Noel Israel Khokhar said in an audio message. “Bulk of them have been evacuated. Only 500-600 students are left. And they are also in the process of being evacuated.” Nearly 137 Pakistanis were evacuated to Poland on February 27 at noon Pakistan time.
The embassy is making all-out efforts to facilitate the evacuation of Pakistanis despite all the difficulties in Ukraine which is “under attack, air space has been closed, cyberattacks are being conducted, [there is] firing going on in the cities as well as air attacks. The banking system is down and there is no transport” and shortage of fuel, the ambassador said in a message posted on Twitter, describing the ground situation in Ukraine.
Several Pakistanis reach Poland
In a video posted on Twitter, Haroon Shehzad, a Pakistani studying at Ukraine’s Odessa National Medical University, said he and his colleagues reached the railway situation in a terrible situation with bombardment continuing. With help from the embassy, Shehzad and his friends crossed into Poland. “The embassy offered us food and accommodation. We will now travel to Warsaw,” he said.
Pakistani ambassador to Hungary Mohammed Aejaz requested Pakistanis to stay in Warsaw from where they would be repatriated back to Pakistan. “The Polish side will issue Pakistanis a 15-day visa at checkpoints on the border on a humanitarian basis” which will expire after 15 days and they have to leave Poland within two weeks, he clarified.
Long lines at border crossing
Several students still stranded in Ukraine posted videos on social media complaining that the embassy was not cooperating as they wait for help in extreme cold. Some said they had been waiting for several hours to cross into Poland and requested urgent support. The embassy urged Pakistanis leaving Ukraine to be patient and to follow the guidelines, citing long queues at land border checkpoints.
Situation in Kharkiv is precarious
On Sunday evening, the Pakistan embassy warned that the “situation in Kharkiv is precarious, students who have not yet evacuated should stay in Kharkiv, keep safe and wait for guidance from embassy.” The message came as the war intensified on February 27 and Russian troops entered Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv.
PIA to begin evacuation flights
Two Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft are expected to soon fly to Poland on Sunday to evacuate the Pakistani citizens. “PIA has planned two repatriation flights for Pakistani students” to bring them home safely, PIA said in a statement.
