Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday said the number of Pakistani students who have returned from Kyrgyzstan after the violent unrest of the past week has crossed 3,000, with expectations of the number exceeding 4,000 by midnight as return flights continue.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad after visiting the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek a day earlier, he said he had discussed the situation with relevant officials. “I had said that I would not be placated until I physically come to Kyrgyzstan. The president had assured me that everything is under control, and not to worry,” he said, adding he had said he would still prefer to visit the country in person and meet the country’s deputy prime minister.
Dar, who is also the deputy prime minister, thanked his counterpart, Jeenbek Kulubaev, for arranging for his direct flight from Astana—where he was attending a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)—to Bishkek. In the Kyrgyz capital, he said, he had visited the National Hospital and met an injured Pakistani student. He said the student, Shahzaib, had voiced a strong desire to return home and undertake further treatment here, which the Kyrgyz authorities had obliged at Dar’s request.
According to the foreign minister, he was informed that the Kyrgyz president had issued a public statement stressing that similar incidents of violence would not be tolerated in future. The foreign leader had also described foreign students and workers as valuable guests who contribute to Kyrgyzstan’s economy.
Dar said the president had maintained intelligence agencies had identified and arrested the perpetrators of the attack. “The second thing I want to talk about, which I was shocked to hear, was that we have about 1,100 workers there, who came on the guise of being tourists and then started working without any visa or legal documents,” noted the foreign minister, adding Kyrgyz authorities were trying to trace them so they could be deported. “If we were in the same situation, we would also not let such people off the hook,” he added.
He said he had urged his Kyrgyz counterpart to grant proper visas to the 1,100 individuals rather than deporting them. “I am grateful to the deputy P.M. for immediately obliging the request and getting it approved by the National Security Committee and the immigration ministry and authorities,” he said, adding this way 1,100 families would not have to face the hardship of the deportation process.
“I asked the ambassador why this whole incident had escalated so much,” said Dar, referring to the mob violence. “Now, the students are scared, as per my assessment,” he said, adding he had informed Kyrgyz authorities they must send delegations to meet with Pakistani students at hostels and assure them their safety would be ensured. He said Pakistan was also forming its own inquiry committee to determine how the events of the mob attack unfolded. “[The committee] will also assess how the issue was handled by our mission and how much responsibility they took. They had established two helplines on WhatsApp. But one side of the story is not enough,” he said.