Pakistan, EU set for crucial talks today

Negotiations seek acceptable arrangement for return of migrants

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the European Union are set to hold crucial negotiations on plans to send back illegal Pakistani migrants in Europe. The meeting will come days after Islamabad suspended a readmission agreement with the 28-nation grouping.

An EU delegation, led by its Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, would arrive in Pakistan today (Monday) in a bid to convince Islamabad to revisit the ban on the readmission of deportees.



The recent terror attacks in Paris have added a new dimension to the problem of illegal migrants. And with the EU countries mulling to get tough on migrants, the visit may have far-reaching implications for Pakistanis too.

Pakistan is already stretched on the process of deportation of immigrants, a federal government official said. The country would take a tough line against the EU for sending back Pakistani migrants without following defined procedures.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar would lead the Pakistani side during the negotiations with EU’s Avramopoulos and would share with him Islamabad’s concerns on the ‘objectionable’ deportation process.



EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini had earlier said Pakistan has expressed its readiness to take back its citizens, who had entered the EU illegally, in accordance with the existing bilateral agreements. Islamabad recently suspended the agreement with European countries, terming it discriminatory and one-sided. The accord was inked during the previous government’s tenure.

An interior official said the discussions would focus on an acceptable arrangement for the return of the migrants. After discussing this issue with the EU delegation, the interior ministry would also hold a meeting with EU ambassadors in Pakistan on this topic.



According to the interior minister, the deportation treaty was suspended as it was working against Pakistan. In a series of press conferences ahead of the EU delegation’s visit, Nisar termed the procedure adopted by some countries to deport Pakistanis ‘insulting’.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd,  2015.