Rs 3.79 billion recovered from overseas employers: OPF

February 18, 2019:  Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) has so far recovered Rs3.79 billion from overseas employers and distributed among legal heirs of deceased overseas Pakistanis whose bread earners had expired abroad during work.

Managing Director OPF, Dr Amer Sheikh has said Overseas Pakistanis Foundation has disbursed claims amounting to Rs292.859 million during year 2018 according to procedure set out by host countries.

He told media that OPF has made a lot of efforts to recover this amount through constant follow up of cases with help of Pakistani missions abroad.

The managing director OPF explained that the recovery of dues in form of blood money and insurance claims was a difficult job as compared to realization of outstanding amount of salary and end of service benefits from employers under labour laws of host countries.

He said that in case of murder of an overseas Pakistani or accidental death (including traffic accidents), the determination of compensation depends upon police report which fixes quantum of responsibility on the accused.

Such claims depend upon decisions of Qazi courts and as such they take lot of time, he added.

Dr Amer said that fixation of court cases in Saudi Arabia was time consuming job for which OPF pushes the matter through Pakistani mission and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia.

He said that OPF documents each and every case like court case with help of legal heirs and processes free of cost to materialize claim of deceased overseas Pakistanis from abroad.

He said that 6868 cases were under process for realization of claims while 9746 have been settled.

The MD said that the OPF has been contributing in a number of areas to look after interests of Pakistani expatriates like resolving their complaints, extending financial assistance, scholarships, discount in tuition fees in OPF schools and colleges, free ambulance service for transportation of dead bodies and provision of housing facilities.

 (APP)