Pakistan and the EU agree on procedures for verification, deportation and evidence sharing
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has welcomed and appreciated the EU’s understanding of Pakistan’s concerns in the implementation of the EURA agreement.
He was reacting to the news that a broad-based understanding has been reached in the Joint Readmission Committee’s meeting held in Brussels.
The minister for interior said that illegal immigration posed problems not only for the EU countries but it was also a source of embarrassment and concern for Pakistan. Praising the EU’s understanding of Islamabad’s concerns, he said that this would provide a good platform for Pakistan and the EU to work together with greater coordination in this area.
The meeting of the Joint Readmission Committee (JRC) held in Brussels last week arrived at an agreement between the two sides on various points of difference. The meeting of the JRC took place following the decision taken for the same in the meeting between the Minister for Interior Nisar Ali khan and the EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos in November 2015 where the interior minister shared Pakistan’s serious concerns over the loopholes in the implementation of EURA, which seriously affected the fundamental rights and in some cases the dignity of Pakistani immigrants and refugees and stressed the need to immediately resolve the issues in the interest of both Pakistan and the EU.
On Pakistan’s concern over the deportees being sent without due verification, the EU agreed, during the JRC meeting, to the verification process as proposed by the Ministry of Interior (MoI) in Pakistan and committed to ensure sending of deportees strictly in line with the Readmission Accord, the immigration laws and procedures acceptable to Pakistan.
The EU also welcomed the SOPs developed by the MoI in Pakistan for the transparent and speedy processing of the verification applications as well as Pakistan’s initiative of developing an electronic platform for the issuance of Emergency Travel Document (ETD) to the verified deportees.
While appreciating the newly developed system of interrogation of the deportees by the FIA in Pakistan with a view to taking action against the human traffickers and smugglers, the EU side agreed that a 15-day prior intimation in case of deportees through chartered flights and a three-day intimation in case of deportee(s) through commercial flights would be shared with Pakistan in order to facilitate the FIA in making necessary arrangements for the reception and interrogation of the deportees.
In response to Pakistan’s demand, the EU also acknowledged the need of sharing the evidence beforehand with Pakistan when a deportee is accused of criminal or terrorist activities.
The EU’s broader engagement with Pakistan including legal migration and mobility as well as the re-integration of the Pakistani migrants sent back from EU was also discussed during the JRC meeting.
The meeting ended with a commitment from both sides to enhance cooperation for managing current migration and security issues in order to take stronger action together to tackle the migration challenge.
