Rawalpindi: The government has imposed the Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1952 to facilitate the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIA) in its citizen repatriation and evacuation operations amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news report.
This act will allow PIA to rescue, repatriate, and evacuate Pakistanis and foreigners stranded in various countries, and has been put in immediate effect for the next six months.
The government put this law into action as numerous Pakistanis are still stranded in various countries with limited resources and expired visas, putting them in a precarious position. Therefore, the authorities placed PIA under the relevant act, with immediate effect, for repatriation efforts.
A PIA spokesperson revealed that the airline has already brought back more than 27,000 people, despite the risks involved. He avowed that the airline would continue these services till every stranded Pakistani is repatriated. Additionally, he stated that this repatriation includes the bodies of those who died abroad, as well.
