ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel was informed on Wednesday that 76,968 Pakistani workers had returned back to Pakistan, since the COVID-19 pandemic’s outbreak.

The 12th meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OP&HRD) was held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Sheikh Fayyazud Din.

The Committee confirmed the minutes of its 11th meeting held on 12th November, 2020, unanimously.

The secretary of the ministry assured the Committee that there is “no ban” on the export of Pakistani workforce for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as officially announced by Nasser Bin Thani Al Hamli, the Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation of the UAE.

The Committee was informed that 76,968 Pakistani workers returned to Pakistan those were registered on portal of the Overseas Employment Corporation since the pandemic hit, out of which 29,419 from the UAE, and 34,731 from Saudi Arabia.

The Committee was informed that memorandum of understanding was signed between the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation and the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur International Zusammenarbelt on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development for technical assistance for establishment of Pak-German Facilitation and Reintegration Centre to support returning Pakistani workers.

While discussing the agenda pertaining to the performance of Community Welfare Attachés (CWAs) in Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries, the secretary expressed satisfaction over their performance, however, performance evaluation policy regarding the CWAs will be finalised within a week.

Sajid Khan, Haji Imtiaz Ahmed Chaudhary, Syed Javed Hassnain, Dr Mahreen Razzaq Bhutto, Zulfiqar Ali Khan Dullah, Atta Ullah, Muhammad Jamalud Din, Zahara Wadood Fatemi, Tashfeen Safdar, Sobia Kamal Khan, Dr Haider Ali Khan, MNAs, and senior officers from the ministry, attended the meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020