ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has launched a new service through which citizens can send donations for Turkiye's and Syria's earthquake victims via SMS, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) announced on Monday.
The death toll from a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck parts of Turkiye and Syria on February 6 has surpassed 46,000, officials of the countries have confirmed. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who visited the Turkiye last week to show solidarity with the victims, has also set up a relief fund and promised to stand with Turkiye in its hour of need.
In a press statement, the PMO announced Pakistan's "huge step" for the earthquake victims in both countries. "The facility to donate via SMS to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund for Turkiye and Syria's Earthquake Victims has been launched," it said.
The PMO said people can donate a sum of Rs10 by typing FUND and sending it to 9977. It added that the donations would be immediately added to the premier's earthquake relief fund.
During his visit to Turkiye, Sharif met President Erdogan who thanked the Pakistani premier for his "strong and steadfast support" in the wake of the disaster.
Sharif also visited earthquake-affected areas in the country and spoke to victims of the disaster to assure them that Pakistan would not abandon Turkiye.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday called for translating existing goodwill between Islamabad and Dhaka into “tangible cooperation,” his office said, as both countries move toward closer ties following the ouster of former premier Sheikh Hasina.
Established together as one independent nation in 1947, Bangladesh won liberation from then-West Pakistan in 1971. Relations between the two countries continued to deteriorate during Hasina’s administration, which prosecuted several members of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party for war crimes relating to the 1971 conflict.
However, relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh have improved since Hasina was ousted in a bloody student-led protest in August. Islamabad’s ties with Dhaka have also improved as Bangladesh’s relations with India, where Hasina has sought refuge, have deteriorated.
Bangladesh’s outgoing high commissioner to Pakistan, Ambassador Muhammad Ruhul Alam Siddique, paid a farewell call on Sharif in Islamabad at the end of his four-year tenure on Wednesday.
“While conveying his warm wishes to Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the Prime Minister remarked that the existing goodwill between Pakistan and Bangladesh needed to be translated into tangible cooperation,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
Outgoing High Commissioner of Bangladesh Muhammad Ruhul Alam Siddique pays a farewell call on Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on December 11, 2024. (Photo courtesy: PMO)
Sharif acknowledged Siddique for promoting Pakistan-Bangladesh ties, stressing that Pakistan “greatly valued” its relations with Bangladesh rooted in shared history, common faith and cultural similarities.
“The High Commissioner thanked the Prime Minister for the facilitation, courtesies and privileges extended to him during his stay in Pakistan,” the PMO added.
Pakistan’s foreign office said in September that Islamabad sought “robust, multifaceted, friendly relations” with Bangladesh to ensure peace and stability in the region.
Sharif met Dr. Yunus in New York in September at a ceremony hosted by the Bangladeshi leader to mark the completion of 50 years of Bangladesh’s membership in the United Nations.
Both sides agreed to forge stronger ties and enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields during their meeting.
PESHAWAR: Japan has donated $3.1 million to eradicate polio in Pakistan and ensure millions of children remain safe from the crippling disease, the Pakistan Polio Programme said on Wednesday, as Islamabad desperately looks to grapple with an alarming surge in cases of the infection this year.
Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. The country has so far reported 59 cases of the infection this year.
The nation’s polio eradication campaign has hit serious problems with a spike in reported cases this year that have prompted officials to review their approach to stopping the crippling disease.
“Today, the Government of Japan reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts by supporting the program with a generous donation of $3.1 million,” the Pakistan Polio Programme said in a press release.
“This funding will ensure millions of children are protected from this crippling disease in 2025, leading us closer to a polio-free Pakistan.”
Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Farooq expressed her gratitude to the Japanese government and highlighted the decades-long partnership between both nations in the “critical fight.”
“This generous grant reflects not only financial support but also the profound bond between our nations, rooted in a shared commitment to health equity and safeguarding of future generations,” she said.
“A heartfelt thanks to the Government and people of Japan, JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), and UNICEF for their enduring commitment to this life-saving cause. Together, we will achieve our goal of ensuring no child is left behind.”
Charge d’ Affairs ad interim of Japan Takano Shuichi, JICA Chief Representative Miyata Naoaki, UNICEF representative in Pakistan Abdullah Fadil and other officials from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and Pakistan Polio Program team were in attendance during the grant ceremony, the statement added.
Of the 59 cases reported in 2024, 26 are from Balochistan province, 16 from KP, 15 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad, the federal capital.
Poliovirus, which can cause crippling paralysis, particularly in young children, is incurable and remains a threat to human health as long as it has not been eradicated. Immunization campaigns have succeeded in most countries and have come close in Pakistan, but persistent problems remain.
In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.
Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994 but efforts to eradicate the virus have since been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from some religious hard-liners, who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies. Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams.
KARACHI: Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and the Sindh government have joined hands to introduce a Senior Citizen Card for persons aged 60 and above in the southern province, allowing them to avail better access to health care facilities and travel, NADRA said on Wednesday.
The Sindh High Court had ordered the provincial government in 2021 to issue what was then known as the “Azadi Card” for Sindh’s citizens falling in the age bracket of 60 years and above. As per the Sindh Senior Citizens Welfare Act, 2014, the cards would fulfill elderly citizens’ social security needs and provide them benefits.
NADRA said in its press release that the cards, now named Senior Citizen Card, will provide 3.7 million Sindh residents aged 60 and above enhanced access to health care and travel facilities. The agreement to issue the cards was signed between NADRA and the Sindh Social Welfare Department in a ceremony on Wednesday.
“Social Welfare Department Sindh in collaboration with NADRA has launched the Sindh Senior Citizen Card,” NADRA said.
“The program is set to benefit 3.7 million citizens aged 60 and above, providing improved access to health care, travel facilities, and various civic services.”
Sindh Social Welfare Minister Mir Tarique Ali Khan Talpur highlighted that Sindh was the first province in the country to issue a dedicated Senior Citizen Card.
“This initiative underscores our commitment to honoring and caring for this important segment of society,” he said.
ISLAMABAD: One soldier was killed while seven militants were gunned down in northwestern Pakistan this week during separate intelligence-based operations, the army’s media wing said on Wednesday.
Both operations took place in the restive North Waziristan district in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan between Dec. 10-11, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
Four militants were killed in the first operation in Miran Shah, North Waziristan, while three others were gunned down in the second operation in Spinwam area in the same district.
“However, during the intense fire exchange, one brave son of soil, Lance Naik Muhammad Amin (age: 34 years, resident of District Faisalabad), having fought gallantly, embraced Shahadat,” the ISPR said.
It said that a sanitization operation was being conducted in the district to eliminate any other militants found in the area.
“Security Forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” the ISPR said.
Pakistan has struggled to contain surging militancy in its northwestern KP and southwestern Balochistan provinces since November 2022, when a fragile truce between the Pakistani Taliban and the state broke down.
The Pakistani Taliban have since then increased attacks against Pakistan’s security forces, souring Islamabad’s ties with Kabul, whom it accuses of providing sanctuary to militants.
Afghanistan denies Pakistan’s allegations and has asked Islamabad to resolve its security challenges internally.
ISLAMABAD: Twelve-hour-long bus rides, multiple check posts, interrogations and bills piling on were how many of nearly 600 Pakistanis evacuated from Syria this week described their fear-filled journey of leaving the war-torn nation by road through neighboring Lebanon.
More than 1,300 Pakistanis have been stranded in Syria since last week when opposition forces seized the capital of Damascus unopposed following a lightning advance that sent President Bashar Assad fleeing to Russia on Sunday.
Pakistan’s mission in Damascus told Arab News on Wednesday 585 Pakistani nationals had been safely evacuated from Syria and were in Beirut. Efforts to transport another batch of 150 people had been hindered, the official said, due to “continuous bombing by Israeli forces.” Soon after the overthrow of Assad on Sunday ended 54 years of rule by his family, Israeli troops moved into the demilitarized zone set up after the 1973 Middle East war, saying the incursion was a temporary measure to ensure border security. On Tuesday, the Israeli military said a wave of air strikes had destroyed the bulk of Syria’s strategic weapons stockpiles.
With major Syrian airports shut, the evacuations came after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged Lebanese PM Najib Mikati on Monday to “personally” assist in getting Pakistanis, including pilgrims, out of Syria by land routes through the border with Lebanon.
“It took us over 12 hours to reach the Syria-Lebanon border, a distance that should have been just two hours,” Ilyas Naqvi, a Pakistani expatriate from Islamabad who has been living and working in Syria along with his family since 2000, told Arab News in a telephone interview.
This handout photograph, released by Pakistan’s foreign ministry on December 10, 2024, shows Pakistani nationals crossing the Syria-Lebanon border amid the country’s repatriation of expats after Syria’s opposition forces seized the capital of Damascus last week. (Photo courtesy: MOFA)
“At every checkpoint, we were searched and questioned by different groups, and with each stop we feared for our lives, not knowing if we would make it through.”
Naqvi appealed to the Pakistani government to make arrangements for the immediate return of Pakistanis, saying they were facing “severe financial hardships.”
“I arranged my own transport because it was unsafe to stay in Syria,” he explained. “A coaster that normally costs $10 per person to the Lebanon border charged $200 per head for my family of four, leaving us with very limited funds left.”
Abeel Hassan, who hails from Pakistan’s northwestern Parachinar city and had traveled to Sayyidah Zaynab town in Syria for a religious pilgrimage, also described an arduous journey to the border.
“We heard continuous gunfire along the way, which kept all of us in constant fear,” Hassan said.
However, he praised the Pakistani embassies in Syria and Lebanon for ensuring a safe evacuation and swiftly arranging visas at the Lebanon border.
“Our safe travel wouldn’t have been possible without the embassy officials who accompanied us and negotiated with the armed Syrians at various checkpoints to ensure our safe passage,” Hassan added.
The journey to the Lebanon border took his family six hours, he said, and they received visas at the border without having to pay a fee due to the assistance of the Pakistani mission in Lebanon.
Zawar Hussain from Pakistan’s Hafizabad city, who had also traveled to Syria on a religious pilgrimage, said all pilgrims had paid in advance for the journey due to which they had brought limited funds on the journey. The ordeal in Syria left them in financial difficulty, making it hard even to afford food in Beirut.
“Due to the emergency situation, everything is highly overpriced here,” Hussain told Arab News. “We paid $80 for food for five people just yesterday [Tuesday].”
While wealthy pilgrims have already returned home by buying their own plane tickers onwards from Beirut, the majority lacked such funds, he added:
“We request the government to arrange charter or commercial flights for us, as we do not have the funds to purchase air tickets, which cost over $1,100.”
Ali Hassan, another pilgrim from Pakistan’s eastern city of Sargodha, said hotels at Sayyidah Zaynab — home to the Sayyida Zaynab Mosque which is believed to house the grave of Zaynab bint Ali, the granddaughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (pbuh) — had doubled their charges following the regime change, leaving pilgrims financially drained.
“Now, we don’t have enough money to buy water bottles for our family of five, as a bottle of water here in Beirut costs one dollar,” Hassan said.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to Lebanon Salman Athar said despite the small size of the Beirut mission, the embassy was doing “everything possible” to assist Pakistani nationals.
“We have arranged visas for them without any fee and provided the best hotels and food,” Athar told Arab News, adding that the mission was in continuous contact with evacuees and the Lebanese government.
“The foreign ministry is also working with the government to arrange a chartered flight from Beirut to bring them home,” he added, “and once it is finalized, they will be repatriated.”
