Govt to help stranded Pakistanis go back

The longstanding problems of stranded Pakistanis living in a number of filthy camps across the country still remains unresolved, depriving them of their basic rights like education and healthcare.
The stranded Pakistanis, known as Biharis, want equal treatment like Bangladeshi citizens as they see no sign of their repatriation.
“We want to live a normal life outside camps like other Bangladeshis. Those who want to go back to Pakistan they should be given government support to do so. But those who want to stay back here should be given equal treatment,” Stranded Pakistanis' General Repatriation Committee (SPGRC) general secretary M Shawkat Ali told the news agency.
Asked about it, State Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku told the news agency that the government is providing all necessary support to the stranded Pakistanis. “We'll ensure all required support and if anyone wants to go back to Pakistan, we'll extend necessary support,” he said.
“But still we feel deprived of...We've to live in a congested 8 feet by 8 feet room with family members, including kids. We don't have any privacy and have limited access to education,” said M Shawkat Ali.
Some 30,000 stranded Pakistanis of around 5,500 families live at Geneva Camp in the city's Muhammadpur while around 3 lakh Pakistanis in 17 camps of 16 districts across the country.
Since independence, Bangladesh has been asking Pakistan to resolve the issues which also include transfer of foreign aid that was meant for cyclone victims of 1970, and payment of war reparations. But all the successive Pakistani governments, including the present one, have completely ignored the request, except repatriation of a small number of stranded Pakistanis.