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Repatriation of stranded Pakistanis uncertain

By Toufique Imroae Khalidi
The repatriation of more than 2,50,000 stranded Pakistani* 1* very unlikely to start next month as planned earlier due to non-availability of mvr saary kinds
According to a Bangladesh government official. the Rabita Trust, s joint endewwtr of the Pakistan Government and !he Makkah based Rsbltat al Atem al telami. to yet to mobiltoe the money - SOO mllhon US dog* — estimated to be required for the repatriation
According to the Trust estimates. of the • 500 million. • 300 nsthon would be needed for the str passage and the re*i • 200 million for the rehablll tatton of the returnee* It was planned that as soon as the 50 per cent of the required • 500 mflhon was cofiex-ted, the pro ce»« would start
The Pakistan Government promised 860 million and the rest was to be amuiged by the Rabttat ol Alam al Islaenl or the Muslim World league
According to a Bangladesh official source, the Rablta Trust for Repatriation and Rehabilitation of the Pakistanis Stranded tn Bangladesh' headed by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is far away from the target.
Even the token' repatriation of some 2000 families of stranded Pakistanis — that is some 10.000 persons — within the next few months' as deckled by the Trust Board at its first meeting on November 1 1 in Islamabad vena to be uncertain.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired the meeting which was attended by several Pakistan ministers and the cht'-f of the Muslim World Ix-ague. Dr Abdullah Omar Nassef, also a vice chairman of the Board
But Nasim Khan, the Chief Patron of the Stranded Pakistanis General Repatriation Committee (SPGRC). refutes the Idea that fund shortage is any cause for the delay
Money Is not the problem the problem is the political will’ on the part of the Pakistan Government. Khan, undergoing treatment at the Rablta Hospital at Mohammad pur. told The Dally Star yesterday.
He said that Pakistan
Government could start a token repatriation' with whatever money so far collected.
Khan alleged that an amount of Rs 30 crore belonging to the Trust wak lying 1n an Islamabad bank'. Of the Rs 30 crore, he said. Rs 25 crore was donated by the then Pakistan President General Ziaul Haq and Rs 5 crore came from the Rabitat al-Alam al-Islami
According to a World Muslim League journal report, the Rablta Trust was founded 'at the behest of the late General Ziaul Haq' Just weeks before his death In a plane crash In 1988.
Meanwhile, the census of the Biharis', the Urdu-speaking Muslim immigrants mainly from central and northern India, now sheltered in about 60 camps In various parts of Bangladesh, has Just been concluded but a final report is yet to be prepared.
The census, which began March 1. was conducted jointly by the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka and the Rablta with the assistance of the SPGRC.
An official of the Dhaka office of the Rablta said that the repatriation may start by the
Tht official told this correspondent that the necessary preparatory work would delay thp-jSrocess. \
Z \Mean^fhrte. the visiting '^forfTrer^Brltlsh UK Foreign Office Minister. Lord David Ennals, met with Foreign Minister ASM Mostafizur Rahman Saturday and discussed the Isays.
I he Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and Pakistan, who met thrice In recent months while attending various International conferences together, discussed -the figue Nawaz Sharif after a meeting with Khaleda Zia during the OIC summit tn Dakar announced that the repatriation would start by June this year
Nastm Khan told this paper that he was planning a long-march with 50,000 of his people' byt he would until June 3frtfor a positive development.
Meanwhile/ the Pakistan > Gove rnmyar has planned to setTIr—tKe repatriated people In Punjab province and has already selected possible sites. Accordingly, the Chief Minister of Punjab has been inducted In the Rablta Board.
According to a Pakistan Government source, 'the Government of Punjab has earmarked 1085 acres of suitable land In 14 districts for they rehabilitation of non-Bengali/ from Bangladesh'. I
The question of launching an international appeal hnA also been planned. said a j Pakistan diplomat. /
The Trustees at the firsts meeting formed three com- I mittees for fund raising,/ preparation of rehabllltatM/ plan and logistics ar^jge ) mCnU