The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday urged all Pakistani students in Ukraine to reach the city of Ternopil as early as possible for evacuation.
FO spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said in a statement that the Pakistan embassy in Ternopil was fully functional from February 25 (today).
“A focal person of the Pakistan embassy is also available for facilitation of Pakistani students in Kyiv,” he said, also providing a cell phone number (+380681734727).
The FO also provided the contact details of the focal person in Ternopil, Dr Shahzad Najam. Pakistanis in Ukraine can contact him on the following numbers: +380632288874, +380979335992.
“Trains are functioning and tickets are available from Kharkiv to Lviv/ Ternopil. In cities where public transport is not available at the moment, all students are informed that [the] embassy has tasked concerned Honorary Education Consultant for arranging transportation and bringing students to Ternopil,” the statement said.
In this regard, the embassy in Ukraine issued a statement that all Pakistanis in the country were safe and that it was in the process of reaching out to them to “assure their well-being and evacuation”.
“The capital city, Kyiv, is under attack and Ambassador Dr Noel I. Khokhar has advised all students to follow the guidelines so that they may be transported to Ternopil for onward evacuation,” it said, adding that a facilitation centre had been made at Ternopil and a reception point had been setup at the Lviv railway station.
“Pakistani students will be evacuated to Poland,” the embassy said. In the handout, it also said that it was in close contact with other Pakistan embassies in Poland, Romania and Hungary.
“All these missions have been directed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad, to facilitate all Pakistani students coming from Ukraine.”
The name and the contact details for the focal person of the embassy in Poland was also provided to facilitate border crossing: Trade and Investment Counsellor Zahid, who can be contacted at +48668059876.
“The embassy has already gathered 35 Pakistani students in Ternopil and soon they will be evacuated. Other Pakistani students are being transported to Ternopil and will be evacuated at the earliest.”
The embassy urged students in Ukraine to keep in touch with the focal persons so that they could be evacuated as soon as possible.
PIA airplane to evacuate Pakistani students:
Meanwhile, the government announced that a special national flag carrier airplane will be sent to evacuate stranded Pakistani students from Ukraine.
PIA chief Air Marshal (r) Arshad Malik talked to Khokhar and discussed different options to evacuate the Pakistani students stranded there due to the prevailing situation.
Malik, in a tweet, said currently the airspace of Ukraine is closed but various options are being worked out for safe evacuation of the Pakistani students. He expressed confidence to find ‘a way’ in that regard and the national flag carrier is just a call away to carry out the airlift operation.
Politicians in Pakistan also called for the speedy evacuation of citizens in Ukraine as reports emerged that they were stranded without any means of leaving.
In videos circulating online, students claimed that the embassy was not responding to their concerns and urged the government to make arrangements for their evacuation.
PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz questioned whether anyone was listening to the pleas of Pakistani students stranded in Ukraine waiting to be evacuated.
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said that students and citizens in Ukraine needed to evacuated without delay.
“Other countries have responded with speed; our missions there need to act fast to run special flights home. An embassy’s first responsibility is to nationals in distress so please prioritise,” she said.
It is pertinent to note that the statement comes as Russia unleashes airstrikes on cities and military bases and sending in troops and tanks from three sides, while moving forward with its invasion of Ukraine,
In lieu of the attacks in Kyiv, Pakistan’s embassy has been moved to Ternopil in western Ukraine.
