Pakistani air hostess flies to Canada and ‘disappears’ to seek Canadian asylum, citizenship
Following a search, a note was found in a Toronto hotel room which read, “Thank you, PIA (Pakistan International Airlines)”.
This is the kind of appreciation note a flight attendant would expect to get from a flyer after a nice and comfortable flight.
However, the note saying ‘Thank you, PIA’ was actually written by an air hostess and not a satisfied passenger.
The note belonged to Maryam Raza, who worked with PIA and reached Toronto on Monday (February 26) by taking a flight from Islamabad, but did not report for duty on her return flight to Karachi a day later.
As per Dawn report, when officials searching for Maryam opened her hotel room, they found her PIA uniform with a ‘Thank you, PIA’ note.
Maryam Raza is not the only example of a PIA crew member landing in Canada and disappearing into thin air. Actually, she was just following a trend.
Maryam’s disappearance comes just a month after PIA flight attendant Faiza Mukhtar went missing in Canada in January 2024.
PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan said Faiza Mukhtar, who was scheduled to fly back to Karachi a day after landing in Canada, “did not board the flight and went missing”.
PIA crew members seeking asylum in Canada since 2018
The disappearance of the crew members, Maryam and Faiza, is indeed a worrying trend for PIA, which itself is struggling with financial and credibility losses.
Maryam’s disappearance is the second such case in 2024.
This is probably no longer the PIA that Jacqueline Kennedy called “the great people to fly” in 1962. Since then it has become the slogan of PIA.
Actually, Pakistan is no longer the Pakistan of the 60s. Surviving on a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and international aid, Pakistan faces record brain drain in 2023, Uncertain about their future in Pakistan, skilled professionals are leaving the Islamic Republic in large numbers.
According to aviation news website Simply Flying, the trend of Pakistani flight attendants disappearing after flying to Canada began in 2019 and has accelerated recently.
However, ‘Mideast’ based news website The Media Line claims that it had received information about PIA flight attendants seeking asylum in Canada and other countries as early as 2018.
7 Pia cabin crew members ‘disappear’ in Canada in 2023
According to media reports, last year, in 2023, at least seven PIA flight attendants went missing after landing in Canada.
According to PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan, two PIA cabin crew members who arrived in Toronto from Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International failed to report for duty for their return flight home in December 2023.
Spokesman Khan said, “The flight was on its scheduled return to Islamabad, but the steward did not show up in Toronto. The national flag carrier’s flight had to return to Islamabad without its crew members.”
PIA crew members, Ayaz Qureshi, Khalid Afridi and Fida Hussain Shah reportedly slipped after landing in Canada in November and December 2023.
Pia blames Canada’s ‘liberal’ asylum policy
“The reason [disappearance] “The Canadian government has a highly generous asylum and refuge program,” PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan told ArabNews in November 2023.
Khan said four PIA cabin crew members went missing in a similar manner in 2022, while four more managed to go missing in 2023.
While PIA officials point to Canada’s relaxed asylum norms, experts believe low crew wages and fears about the future of the airline are driving crew members back home after landing in Canada. Inspiring to run away instead of coming.
The privatization of cash-strapped PIA was approved by Pakistan’s caretaker cabinet in February, two days before elections in Pakistan, as a measure to revive the loss-making airline, news agency PTI reported. .
According to SamaaTV report, the annual average of Pakistani flight attendants moving to Canada is five. The employment period of PIA employees requesting political asylum in Canada is 15 to 17 years, compared to 35 to 40 years after slipping in five years, the report said.
Speaking on the ill-effects of absconding crew members, PIA spokesperson Khan said, “We generally terminate the services of such persons and punish them by depriving them of any benefits”.
PIA flight attendant helping other asylum seekers
Mahira, a flight attendant who disappeared after landing in Toronto in 2018, provided legal assistance to Fareha Mukhtar when she applied for asylum, TheMediaLine reported in January 2024.
PIA spokesperson Khan said a crew member who went missing a few years ago has settled in Canada and is now “giving guidance” to fellow crew members considering seeking asylum.
However, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan tried to downplay the severity of the trend, saying in December 2023, “Asylum-seeking parties are common throughout South Asia and other developing countries, so this situation is not exclusive to PIA. “
However, this justification is no face saver for Pakistan International Airlines officials. “The management of the national airline faces embarrassment from Canadian authorities over such incidents of escape,” an unnamed PIA official told Pakistan-based SamaTV.
These are actually mid-senior members of the airline who are seeking asylum in Canada. PIA attendant Maryam, who went missing on Monday (February 26), worked with PIA for 15 years.
Pakistan is watching Record-high inflation due to a deteriorating economy and political instability. It is not unusual for its citizens to seek better prospects abroad. Anyone who can, tries to get out of the mess. PIA cabin crew members can at least fly for free.