Islamabad, May 22 (EFE).- More than 4,000 Pakistani students residing in Kyrgyzstan have returned to their home country in recent days, the Pakistani government said Wednesday, after a mob of hundreds of people attacked foreign students in Bishkek during the weekend.
“Through commercial flights, 3,233 students have returned while 513 have come back through special flights and 290 students flew back by a flight arranged by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (provincial) government,” Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said at a press conference.
Islamabad expects the exodus of Pakistani students to continue in the coming days, as Dar revealed that some 10,000 students are currently studying in several educational establishments in Kyrgyzstan.
The attacks took place on Friday in the country’s capital, Bishkek, when hundreds of people gathered around several hotels where foreign students were staying and proceeded to attack residents, the Pakistani embassy in Kyrgyzstan said on Facebook, citing media reports.
The violence allegedly followed a confrontation that took place on May 13 between locals and students from Egypt that went viral on social media.
Dar revealed that three Pakistanis were injured in this wave of violence, in which students from other neighboring countries such as India or Bangladesh were also involved.
A Pakistani man is still in hospital with a fractured jaw, while the other two wounded have already been discharged, the foreign minister said on his return from an official trip to Kyrgyzstan to assess the situation.
The Kyrgyz authorities “guaranteed me that everything is under control now and they will not let this kind of incident happen again and also they will take action against the culprits,” claimed Dar.
Fear among the Pakistani community is palpable, the deputy prime minister said after meeting with Kyrgyz students and officials, including his counterpart, Zheenbek Kulubaev.
The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry, after the meeting between the two dignitaries, said in a statement that those responsible for the confrontation between local inhabitants and Egyptian students “will be strictly persecuted according to the law”. EFE
aa-daa/sc
