Mogadishu (UM) – Many Somali students in Pakistan have asked that President Farmaajo’s government work on its relationship with Pakistan especially as the new Prime Minister Imran Khan takes office on 11th August 2018.
Somali students representing many of Pakistan’s finest higher education institutions across the academic fields have told UM that they are welcomed and well educated in Pakistan. Many of them expressed open support for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Party which Imran Khan leads and won the most recent general elections.
“Pakistan has been a great friend of Somalia and us, as students and President Farmaajo and his government must improve their communications with this country,” said Issak Abdi, a medical student in Karachi. “We have seen some Ministers come in the past but never Presidents or Prime Ministers, this is a shame.”
“There is too much Somalia can learn from Pakistan in security, education and even Islam but our government must start to see Pakistan as important as India and other places,” said Shamso Mohamed, an education student. “Prime Minister Khan is new and his government is young and Somalia must start to make more effort here in Pakistan for us to benefit more from our friendship.”
All the students studying in Pakistan who were interviewed agreed that since Prime Minister elect Imran Khan leads a new Party, the Somali government must do more to reach out to him alongside the established Parties. They also agreed that with increased bilateral engagement, Pakistan will do more for Somali students like providing more scholarships.
“The scholarships the Pakistani government gives are generous but they are too few and they are not distributed fairly by the Somali Embassy. I know many friends to whom the scholarships were sold by the Ambassador herself,” said one student who did not want to be named. This complaint was supported by most interviewed some of whom claimed to have paid for their scholarships which was provided freely by the Pakistani government. “Some people will say we are lying but I welcome the Somali government, especially the Ministry of Education, to investigate this and find the truth on the ground,” added another student who did not want to be named.
“Ambassador Khadiija is no good for our relations with Pakistan. She has no confidence from us as students and she is not the ideal career diplomat we need here. We want a new Ambassador that the Somali students and Pakistani people will respect,” said another student who wanted to remain anonymous. “Pakistan is a nuclear state power which is Muslim and has experience in fighting terrorism with a big private sector and our government must work with them through a functioning embassy with experienced diplomats.”
“The current Ambassador to Pakistan is not fit for purpose if we really care about our relationship with Pakistan, “said Hiddig Ahmed, a postgraduate student in International Relations. Pakistan will not take us seriously so long as our Ambassador is Khadiija Makhzoumi.”
Some students also demanded that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by Ambassador Ahmed Awad investigate the “inappropriate actions of the Ambassador in Pakistan which includes “selling scholarships to the highest bidder, making student visa process complicated and not engaging with the students since she became Ambassador.”