France advises citizens to leave
The French embassy in Pakistan on Thursday advised all French nationals and companies to temporarily leave the country, after violent anti-france protests paralysed large parts of the country this week.
“Due to the serious threats to French interests in Pakistan, French nationals and French companies are advised to temporarily leave the country,” the embassy said in an email to French citizens.
“The departures will be carried out by existing commercial airlines.”
Anti-french sentiment has been simmering for months in Pakistan since the government of President Emmanuel Macron expressed support for a magazine’s right to republish cartoons deemed blasphemous by Muslims.
On Wednesday, the government moved to ban the extremist Tehreek-e-labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party whose leader had called for the expulsion of the French ambassador.
Saad Rizvi, leader of the radical Tehreeke-labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party, was arrested on Monday for threatening the government with mass protests if it did not expel French envoy Marc Barety over the publication of controversial cartoons.
Two police officers died in the clashes between police and TLP activists during which water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets were used to hold back crowds.
This week extra security personnel have been deployed to the French embassy, which is inside a guarded diplomatic enclave closed off to the public, and around four shipping containers placed on its outer wall.
French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnes Von Der Muhll said about 400 to 500 French nationals live in Pakistan and they will be able to leave via commercial flights.
There was no immediate comment by Pakistan’s foreign ministry.
“It’s a serious situation and we know that in Pakistan things can escalate quickly,” said one of the diplomatic sources.
Ludo Van Vooren, a French citizen living in Islamabad, said he was assessing the advice. “We are a little shocked and reflecting on what to do,” he said. “Following the incidents of the last few months, we haven’t been panicking but we are very vigilant. Now we are trying to work out if things have changed.”
Last year around 445 French citizens and more than 30 French companies were registered in Pakistan, according to a French government website. On Twitter, the hashtag “#Franceleavepakistan” was trending with more than 55,000 tweets as of Thursday afternoon. —
Due to the serious threats to French interests in Pakistan, French nationals and French companies are advised to temporarily leave the country. French embassy