The National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs has called a high-level meeting of all stakeholders next week to discuss the adoption of a mechanism to trace Pakistani citizens detained by Kurds in Syria.
The meeting of the committee was conducted in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.
A source who attended the meeting informed Naya Daur that around 50 families had submitted their applications in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding their missing relatives in Syria and had requested the authorities for their release.
A member of the ministry said that the Pakistani embassy in Syria had no proper data about the number of Pakistani citizens in custody of the Kurds in Syria and was unaware whether they were alive or not.
The ministry said that it was confirmed that Pakistani citizens had traveled to Syria from Pakistan, Turkey and other countries, but their purpose of travelling to and residing in Syria was not clear yet.
A member of the National Assembly (MNA) informed Naya Daur that the committee had not come up with a practical approach to solve the matter.
The MNA added that the families had only registered their complaints with the foreign affairs ministry and that the embassy in Syria would now be directed by the Foreign Office to adopt a strategy to reach those Pakistani citizens which were in the custody of the Kurds.
The legislator also stated that the Pakistani embassy had performed a poor role in tracing the citizens in Syria.
The committee has called another meeting next week to discuss this issue in detail.