Europe
plans to speed up deportation of tens of thousands of Pakistanis, By Tim Craig November 23, 2015
ISLAMABAD,
Pakistan — Europe plans to accelerate the deportation of tens of thousands of
illegal Pakistani migrants in a bid to free up space and resources for refugees
with more legitimate asylum requests, a senior diplomat said Monday.
Dimitris
Avramopoulos, the European commissioner for migration, home affairs and
citizenship, delivered the message during a visit to Pakistan’s capital in
response to the ongoing refugee crisis. Although Syrians and Afghans make up
the bulk of the most recent arrivals, Pakistanis also have been seeking asylum
in Europe. They are adding to the strain as Europe struggles to cope with the
760,000 migrants who have arrived this year.
But with
Pakistan’s government relatively stable and the danger of Islamist militancy
diminishing here, fewer than 20 percent of Pakistanis are granted asylum
in Europe if they arrive illegally, officials said.
“Pakistanis
will not qualify as political refugees,” Avramopoulos said. “Pakistan is under
a democratic process. . . . It is not a country where its citizens are
persecuted, and great progress has been done by authorities in Pakistan in
order to pave a democratic perspective for their country.”
[E.U.
boosts power of border agency to deport migrants] Even
before this year’s refugee crisis, about 168,000 illegal Pakistani migrants
were ordered to leave countries in the 28-member European Union between 2008 and
2014, according to Eurostat. But a lack of enforcement, a shortage of flights
and bureaucratic delays meant that only 55,750 actually left Europe during that
period.
Until
Avramopoulos’s visit, it had appeared as though the European Union would face
even more hurdles in efforts to repatriate Pakistani citizens. Last week,
Pakistan’s Interior Ministry said Pakistani airlines would no longer cooperate
in repatriating deportees.
Among
other complaints, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said E.U. states
were not confirming the nationalities of those being deported. Khan also was
angry that some Pakistanis were being deported on false suspicions that they
had connections to terrorist groups.
“This is tantamount to insulting Pakistanis and humanity,” he told
reporters Saturday. At times, Khan said, migrants were being flown to Pakistan
instead of their home countries. “We cannot accept those Afghans, Bangladeshi,
Burmese and Indians as Pakistani citizens who manage to get fake documents by
the virtue of a bribe,” Khan said.
But Avramopoulos’s visit, which included a meeting with Khan, apparently
smoothed over that tension. “Both sides agreed that Pakistani deportees would
be sent back to Pakistan under a comprehensive procedure acceptable to both
sides,” said an Interior Ministry official, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity because he is not an official spokesman.
The E.U. official stressed, however, that the agreement will not affect
legal Pakistani migration. European countries admit about 50,000 Pakistanis
annually for family reunification, guest-worker programs, higher education and
other residency requests. Applications for those positions must be made in
Pakistan, Avramopoulos said.
Comments
Removing
welfare eligibility from refugees and immigrants should follow in this attempt
to restore European countries.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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