30 KM long human queue on Polish border
Fahd Gauhar Malik
The evacuation process of Pakistani students and citizens currently stuck in Ukraine following Russian invasion stands 85 percent completed with the rest of the process to be wound up by March 2, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Ukraine has confirmed to Pakistan Observer.
Video clips of several Pakistani students stranded in Ukraine after Russia launched an attack on its neighboring country last week have gone viral on the social media. The students have been complaining of Pakistan’s embassy not coming to their rescue and not heeding to their plea for immediate rescue.
Many students have also alleged that they were not provided a complete evacuation through buses arranged by Pakistani Embassy and were instead asked to leave the buses some 30 kilometer away from the Poland border resulting in a long on-foot journey.
“Out of 3000 Pakistani students residing in Ukraine, 2300 have been safely evacuated into Poland while the number of other Pakistani community members evacuated from war zone is 1500 out of 2000, “ told Maj-Gen ® Noel Khokhar during his exclusive interview to Pakistan Observer from Ukraine.
The ambassador further claimed that the entire evacuation process will be completed by Mar 2 and all Pakistanis will start their departure journey from Poland accordingly. He outlined the huge amassing of people on Polish border desperately trying to enter the country as the major issue currently confronting the potential entrants.
According to Ambassador Khokhar, Poland has seven major crossing points on its border with Ukraine and each crossing point is currently amassed with 4,000 to 5,000 people causing long queues.
Ambassador Khokhar denied the allegations of his embassy’s apathy in rescuing Pakistani students saying the students were simply panicking during the bus journey to Polish border and have been leaving the buses out of anxiety.
“The embassy hasn’t advised the Pakistani students to leave the buses on the border area we have arranged for their safe evacuation. They just do it out of curiosity and panic since the human queue on Polish border has stretched to 30 kilometers,” Ambassador Khokhar revealed.
He further elaborated upon the departure plan of the Pakistani students reaching Poland saying the flight arrangements have already been put into place for their return to Pakistan from Poland.
The ambassador claimed that Pakistani mission will keep operating in various parts of Ukraine till the completion of the evacuation process and a final decision on the re-opening of mission’s office in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital will be made accordingly once the war tensions fizzle out.
The complete video based interview of Ambassador Noel Khokhar can viewed on Pakistan Observer’s Youtube Channel: Pakistan Observer.
