UK asks Pakistan to take back thousands of illegal migrants

Britain wants thousands of Pakistani migrants with expired visas who have overstayed in United Kingdom (UK) back to their country, said foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in a statement on Tuesday.

Qureshi said that UK has asked to sign an extradition treaty that would allow illegal Pakistani immigrants back to their home, he said at a press conference in Pakistani High Commission in London.

The minister urged that the proposed treaty will be helpful for those Pakistanis who wish to visit UK but their visas are rejected because the country is much cautious of the visa applicants.

The treaty has been discussed with UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid, the measure was supported by the Pakistani government unveiling the fact that it could be helpful for Pakistanis who wish to stay in UK on visas.

“We have initiated dialogue on this. This will help those who are genuine visa applicants. This will help Pakistan more,” said Qureshi.

According to London School of Economics Survey in 2007, UK has over 500,000 illegal immigrants populations out of which more than 30,000 population are believed to be Pakistanis. More than 70,000 are from India, over 25,000 from Bangladesh and the rest from other countries.

In 2018, the two countries reached a disagreement when Britain citing the lack of an extradition treaty , declined to deport former foreign minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar to his home country where he was wanted in connection to a graft probe.