ISLAMABAD/WARSAW: The government has evacuated at least 499 Pakistan nationals, including those who took up studies, from war-ravaged Ukraine after the Russian invasion until early Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said.
In a statement, the ministry said a further 160 people were awaiting evacuation at the Ukraine-Poland border, and an additional 21 were currently en route to the Ukraine-Hungary border.
The Eastern European nation of Ukraine is home to roughly 7,000 Pakistan nationals under normal circumstances, the ministry said, including at least 3,000 students.
Most of those individuals had already left the country before Russia launched its invasion last week, it added.
The families of hundreds of students stuck in Ukraine are also urging the government to help bring them home.
At a media briefing over the weekend, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the Pakistan embassy had been temporarily moved from Kyiv to Ternopil on the border with Poland, to facilitate evacuations.
In a tweet on Monday, Piotr A. Opaliński, Poland’s ambassador in Islamabad, said Warsaw has “so far facilitated the evacuation of 472 nationals [including students] from Ukraine”.
The evacuees are being transported to the capital of Warsaw where accommodation has been arranged for them by Pakistan’s embassy. A first batch of students is already brought from Ukraine and settled in Warsaw, he added.
#Poland has so far facilitated #evacuation of 472 #Pakistani nationals from #Ukraine. They are being transported to Warsaw, where accommodation has been arranged by the Embassy of #Pakistan. First batch of students is already brought and settled in #Warsaw. #PolandFirstToHelp pic.twitter.com/tj5IRMEWsx
— Piotr A. Opalinski (@PiotrAzja) February 28, 2022
Media reports say some 1500 nationals, including 500 students, have been stuck in Ukraine since the Russian invasion on Thursday.
🚨 Evacuation Update 🚨@SMQureshiPTI @ForeignOfficePk pic.twitter.com/Ukm6vo1I77
— Pakistan Embassy Ukraine (@PakinUkraine) February 27, 2022
Syed Waqar Abbas, a software engineering student at Kharkiv National University, is among the students in Ukraine waiting for consular help. His family in Karachi said Saturday that they remain worried about his safety.
“My son is in Kharkiv which is being bombarded. He lives close to the border and that area is very dangerous,” said Shabana Bano Abbas, his mother.
She told the Associated Press that her son had no resources to help him get out.
“He has just informed us that a station close to his area has been bombarded, how will my son get out of that place?” she said, demanding the government to help stranded children return.
His sister Rubab blamed the authorities of being unresponsive. “He has been trying to contact the Pakistan Embassy for two days but the embassy has not been giving any response to him.”
The embassy in Ukraine said in a tweet it was helping stranded Pakistanis to evacuate, advising them to reach Ternopil so they can be transported to Poland.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said it was ready to airlift citizens home from Poland.
— With input from Associated Press
