Ali Al-Ghamdi (2nd L) presents a shield to Francis Lamand to acknowledge his efforts to bridge the gap between Islam and the West and resolve the issue of stranded Pakistanis. PRC convener Syed Ehsan-ul-Haque is seen at left. — Courtesy photo JEDDAH — The Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) organized a symposium at Jeddah's Kababish restaurant on Monday night to discuss the issue of displaced Pakistanis living in Bangladeshi camps. The symposium was presided over by Francis Lamond, president of the Paris-based Islam and the West organization, while former Saudi diplomat and writer Ali Al-Ghamdi was the guest of honor. Speakers at the function also paid tribute to Pakistani daily Nawa-e-Waqt editor Majid Nizami for establishing a fund to help displaced Pakistanis. Recommendations made at the symposium include encouraging the Rabita Trust to work with the Bangladeshi government so that Dhaka can play an active role in resolving the issue. The symposium said 3,000 destitute families who were issued Pakistani ID cards should be immediately repatriated. It added that male members of 37,000 families who were in a similar situation but had not been issued ID cards should be given employment in the Gulf countries. The Islamic Development Bank and other Pakistani banks should finance the construction of affordable housing to rehabilitate the displaced Pakistanis. Pakistan should approach the United Nations to secure refugee or displaced status for these displaced Pakistanis so they can get access to food, medicine and education aid in their camps, it added. Dr. Irfan Hashmi, Vice President of Aalami Urdu Markaz, said: “These stranded Pakistanis have more rights than ourselves because of their sacrifices, courage and patience to live in pathetic conditions in camps out of their loyalty to Pakistan. Our government must take urgent measures to repatriate them home.” Al-Ghamdi praised PRC's role in projecting Pakistan's image and raising the issue of the forgotten Pakistanis. He said he had met the late Nasim Khan who staged a hunger strike in Bangladesh more than 15 years ago to draw attention to the plight of the displaced Pakistanis. “I thought the issue was resolved until I learned from the PRC this was not the case,” Al-Ghamdi said. “We should continue our struggle and pray to Allah that this issue gets resolved soon.” Khaled Almaeena, Editor-in-Chief of Saudi Gazette, said around 250,000 Pakistanis were living in miserable conditions in Bangladeshi camps. He said: “I pray and hope that Pakistan and Bangladesh sit together to solve this four-decade-old issue.” He praised Abdullah Omar Naseef's active role in creating the Rabita Trust to find a permanent solution to the problem of displaced Pakistanis. Almaeena also praised Lamand for his efforts to bridge the gap between Islam and West and also for helping the cause of displaced Pakistanis. — SG
