By Syed Mussarat Khalil
Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH — A Pakistani couple were reunited with their daughter who was born prematurely in the Kingdom during their Umrah pilgrimage thanks to the efforts of Shehryar Akbar Khan, the country’s consul general in Jeddah.
According to Arshad Munir, press consul at the Consulate General of
Pakistan, Hamid Abdullah and his wife came to perform Umrah a few months ago. Abdullah’s wife was six months into her pregnancy, and as the couple were preparing to return home after performing Umrah, the woman developed some health issues. She gave birth to a premature baby at a hospital in Madinah.
The baby, who had bleak chances of survival, was to be put in an incubator. The couple’s visas got expired and they did not have sufficient money to stay back in the Kingdom, so they decided to return to their native Karachi leaving their baby behind.
The baby however survived and got better, Munir said, adding that the hospital and the immigration authorities contacted the consulate, which traced the parents in Karachi.
In view of the health status of the mother, Consul General Khan sent the case to the foreign office in Islamabad and obtained visas for the parents to travel to Saudi Arabia.
The couple came to Jeddah and received their daughter after getting all legal formalities completed, Munir added.
Abdullah and his wife expressed their gratitude to Khan who followed up their case with the foreign office Islamabad with a recommendation to consider it on a priority basis.
They were also thankful to Abdul Basit Abbasi, consul for community welfare who got all the paper work and formalities completed with the local authorities, and Choudhry Abdul Waheed of the Ministry of Haj, who coordinated with the hospital in Madinah.
