Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Opposition lawmakers, during a Senate session on Friday, slammed the government’s decision to not repatriate Pakistani citizens stranded in China due to larger public interest in the wake of a global novel coronavirus outbreak.
During a heated debate, the opposition called for bringing back Pakistani students stuck in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, and for establishing a temporary quarantine to contain a possible outbreak in the country.
Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s Senator Usman Kakar said that a dangerous situation has emerged due to the spread of coronavirus. Referring to Wuhan, he said: “There is a curfew-like situation in the city.”
He added that the PM’s aide was of the opinion that the Pakistani students currently stranded in China should not be repatriated. “Chinese people are coming to Pakistan but our own citizens are not being brought back,” he alleged.
He urged the government to bring back the citizens and to isolate them in a particular area. “We have been unable to treat tuberculosis, polio and measles, so treating coronavirus is out of the question,” he said.
