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Use welfare fund to help community, Pak Consulate in city told

Talking to Khaleej Times, the Ambassador of Pakistan to the UAE, Air Marshal (retd) Syed Qaiser Hussain said that all missions in the country were allowed to spend a maximum of Dh5,500 per month on community welfare projects. “I have been doing this at the embassy in Abu Dhabi, and I ask the consulate in Dubai to freely use the funds for the betterment of the community,” he said.

“The funds can also be used to further extend the new facilities at the consulate in the future so that the Pakistani expats visiting the premises do not have to suffer the pains of waiting in the heat,” he said, while giving an example.

The welfare funds at the missions are raised through the “welfare fund fees” charged when Pakistani expatriates process their papers at the mission. For example an amount of Dh22 is charged along with passport processing fees. The amount that is not utilised for the welfare projects within the country’s mission is used for setting up other foreign missions or in aiding welfare projects in missions in other parts of the world, said the ambassador.

There are several cases where the funds can be used, said the ambassador, including the cases where the sponsor refuses to give the passport to the owner, in providing assistance to needy Pakistanis and other similar cases.

Voicing their concern, several community members said that though they paid money to the government through the foreign missions, they hardly benefited from it. “Our community has been assisted by the association, but welfare funds from the Pakistani missions have hardly been used for our benefit,” they said.

They also voiced concern regarding the “unused” funds being distributed to missions in other countries. “When we have several needy people in the UAE, why is the money being sent to missions abroad,” they questioned.

• UAE