UK deportation deal

Pakistan and the UK have inked a deal allowing the British to deport Pakistani nationals convicted of crimes and immigration offences. London had long pursued such an agreement, and the PTI government was able to negotiate an acceptable deal, but it lost power before formal signatures. Before the deal was signed, Britain had problems removing convicted criminals and immigration offenders from the country as deportations were essentially negotiated with Islamabad on a case-by-case basis. In one notable incident in December 2020, Pakistan turned away an entire chartered plane full of deportees because of disputes over some of the passengers.

The new deal would simplify the process and allow for Pakistanis who illegally overstayed their visas or those who had served their sentences to be deported once London shared their details with Islamabad. Reports suggest that ‘legitimate’ asylum applicants will not be affected and that only people that overstay visas or apply for asylum on “flimsy” grounds will be sent back. But contrary to some reports, the deal is not an extradition treaty. As things stand, London is still not bound to turn over anyone wanted for crimes in Pakistan, or vice versa — these would still have to be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. This means the deal will not have an impact on former PM Nawaz Sharif, who remains an absconder in Pakistan, unless the British decide to deport him.

Still, the agreement is the first step towards an extradition treaty. As things stand, criminals in both countries have used dual nationality or other advantages to avoid prosecution. The most gruesome of these are probably the scores of accused rapists and sex traffickers who have fled the UK to live to take refuge in Pakistan. While some were eventually sent back to stand trial, it took several years to do so. At the same time, several politically exposed persons in Pakistan use flimsy excuses to jet off to London whenever they are in trouble, refusing to return till they ‘resolve’ their issues with the government of the day. Working towards an extradition treaty would help end this injustice.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2022.

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