Peshawar(PR):A parliamentary delegation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa led by the Speaker Asad Qaiser today called on Advisor to Prime Minister Sartaj Aziz at the Foreign Office to hand him over the unanimous resolution of the KP Assembly urging the Federal Government to take up the problems of Pakistani emigrant workers with the authorities of Saudi Arabia.
The resolution which was recently unanimously passed by the Provincial Assembly expresses grave concern over the plight of the Pakistani emigrant workers in Saudi Arabia and thus urges the Federal Government to take up the matter with Saudi authorities at the highest level.
The members of the delegation which included KP Senior Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan, Finance Minister Muzaffar Syed, MPAs Arshad Khan Umarzai (QWP), Sahibzada Sanaullah (PPP), Aurangzeb Naluta (PMLN), and MNA Aqifullah Khan apprised the PM’s Advisor in detail about the number of the Pakistani immigrant workers in Saudi Arabia from different parts of poverty and war hit KP and the dependency of the families of these workers on their remittances.
They also informed Mr.Sartaj Aziz of the threat posed to the socio-economic conditions of these respective areas in case of the stoppages of such remittances.
It was informed that the number of such workers is in millions from KP of whom thousands are in jails for no fault of their own while hundreds of thousands stranded without wages and even foods in different camps in the far flung areas of Saudi Arabia.
They also asked the Foreign Office to facilitate these immigrants in getting their passports renewed easily by increasing the staff deputed and the centres established for such purposes.
They said that the Federal Government must take up the issues of these workers with regard to the renewal of their iqamas and performance of Haj during their stay there.
The Foreign Office briefed the delegation in detail about the steps taken by the Federal Government to facilitate these workers and informed that not over 20 centres have been established for the purpose but these workers have been provided counsler’s, legal and community welfare assistance on the one hand while on the other hand their issues have been taken at the highest level with Saudi authorities.
It was due to these efforts that the food supply and iqamas problem of these workers has been totally resolved while on the one hand the Prime Minister has released special funds for the assistance of their families while on the other hand the Saudi authorities are also making efforts in providing them their arrears from their respective companies.
Mr.Sartaj Aziz assured that the concerns of the KP assembly will be taken up both with the Prime Minister, the immigration authorities and also with Saudi kingdom.
