Pakistanis trapped in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta dream of home

[Abdullah719]

A Pakistani couple trapped in Syria’s besieged Eastern Ghouta district under extremely difficult circumstances dream of returning to their home country.

Around 400,000 civilians in Eastern Ghouta have been struggling to survive since the war in Syria started in 2011.

Due to a regime blockade on the district, they cannot access food or medicine and must try to survive with their own resources.

Mahmoud Fadel Ikram, 72, is one of the thousands of people suffering from the regime siege on Eastern Ghouta.

Along with his 62-year-old wife, Sekral Bibi, Ikram settled in the district’s Jobar neighborhood after coming from Pakistan in 1975 in search of employment.

But when the war started in 2011, their lives fell apart. They now live in a makeshift home, raising poultry and sheep and waiting for help.

“When I come home in the evenings, it’s cold. We heat our home by burning cow dung. We sleep in the same room as the animals,” Ikram says.

Saying he wanted to go back to Pakistan as soon as possible, he called on Islamabad to rescue him and his wife from their difficult circumstances.

“Our situation here is very bad. We are under blockade. If the Pakistani government could help, we want them to take us from here,” he added.

“My family [in Pakistan] don’t even know if we are alive,” Ikram said. “I just want them to hear my voice.”

Ikram’s wife, Bibi, also laments the harsh living conditions.

“We can’t find medicine here. As I suffer from various aches, I wake up at night crying,” she said.

Now, the old couple’s only hope is to return to their home country safe and sound.

“I hope the Pakistani government helps us and we can be reunited with my brothers back home,” Ikram said.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating civil war that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting and more than 10 million displaced, according to claims by the UN.

http://aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/pakistanis-trapped-in-syria-s-eastern-ghouta-dream-of-home/1002341

 

[UN talkz]

So sad to hear all these things... if u just see few videos on YouTube it makes u really sad to see under what conditions these guys live in

 

[MenInG]

Wonder if the Pakistan FO even reads news reports? Which other country treats its citizens like that

 

[Abdullah719]

Pakistani couple besieged in Syria finally contacted by embassy

LAHORE: Pakistan’s diplomatic machinery has been set in motion after the country’s diplomats stationed in the Syrian capital, Damascus, contacted an elderly Pakistani couple besieged in Eastern Ghouta after their plight was highlighted by Pakistan Today.

The couple—namely Muhammad Fazal Akram (72) and Sughran Bibi Akram (62)—is among the 400,000 civilians who have been caught in the siege put in place by the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Earlier in December, Pakistan Today contacted the Pakistani couple, who called for help from their government to rescue them from the besieged area—which is only a few kilometres away from the embassy.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal said Thursday that Pakistan’s embassy in Damascus had established contact with the elderly couple on Tuesday. “We came across a news story about an old Pakistani couple in Damascus trying to take refuge in the embassy of Pakistan in Syria,” he said. “We contacted Fazal Akram on December 26, who informed that he belonged to Gujrat district of Punjab province and has been living in Eastern Ghouta since 1988 with his Pakistani wife since arriving in the country in 1975.”

While assuring that the couple would be safely evacuated at the earliest with the help of the Syrian Foreign Ministry, the spokesman said that they never approached the Pakistani embassy for any assistance, either consular or any other services.

However, it is important to highlight that during their talk with Pakistan Today (published December 20), Akram said that they had attempted to contact the embassy and the government repeatedly over the years.

“I have contacted the Pakistani embassy so many times. Every time they snub me. I have been contacting them since the war broke out, but I get no response. Now, the situation is so bad that I feel there is no chance of me getting out,” he said.

“They don’t even pretend to treat us with respect anymore,” he went on to say. “The last time I asked them for help, they told me to get lost and go back to Pakistan if I could. How can I go back to Pakistan with no help?”

Even though access to food and medicine had been restricted in the area by the Assad regime, at least 12 critically ill patients have been evacuated from Eastern Ghouta to Damascus.

According to humanitarian groups, more besieged people, who were in need of immediate medical help, would be evacuated from the area at the earliest.

However, Syrian journalist Firas Abdullah, who is also photographer and media activist from the Ghouta Media Centre, told Pakistan Today: “The number of people who have been evacuated [from Eastern Ghouta] is too few according to the cases that we have here now. [Moreover], the regime wouldn’t allow to evacuate them if there was not a deal in place to release prisoners—which is immoral and it’s like using the weak people [as pawns] in military issues.”

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/20...sieged-in-syria-finally-contacted-by-embassy/

 

[Saeed]

Good to see Pakistani Government being useful for once. Hopefully they will be able to get them out soon.

 

[Saeed]

Pakistani couple were supposedly able to leave Eastern Ghouta today with the help of Red Crecent.

 

[PakLFC]

Nawaz Sharif could be the most cruel and insensitive person in the world. If his government were to help would have done so by now. When Pakistanis in the country are suffering at his hands why would he care about those abroad? They're pleading to deft people here I am afraid.

 

[gani999]

It is good that they have been rescued, but more needs to be done. The poor couple have probably lost all their savings and will be destitute once they reach Pakistan. Also, they are old and probably not in a position to earn a living by working.

One can see the look of despondency in the poor man's face in the photo of them sitting in the bus. He is probably thinking, 'now what?'.

I hope the government of Pakistan provides some way of sustenance to them.