ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United Kingdom (UK) have signed a prisoner transfer agreement to facilitate prisoners from both countries by allowing them to serve their sentences in their home countries.
Interior Secretary (r) Maj Azam Suleman Khan and British High Commissioner to Pakistan Thomas Drew signed the UK-Pakistan Prisoner Transfer Agreement in the federal capital.
According to the British High Commission, the agreement was approved during British Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s visit to Pakistan in September, and it is a new version of a former treaty between the two countries. It added that the agreement takes care not to undermine the severity of the sentences of the prisoners.
The agreement is expected to allow the inmates space to reassimilate into their societies when released.
Addressing the signing ceremony, Drew said that he is “delighted to sign this updated prisoner transfer agreement, which will allow prisoners to serve their sentence closer to home”.
He added that the agreement is a testament to the strength of the two countries’ relationship.