(Disclaimer: this is a work of fiction. Learn to take a joke; you’ll live longer.)
LONDON – Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Britain wants Pakistan to take back 15 Pakistanis who have overstayed their visit in the UK. Qureshi said the 15 individuals in question have no status or business in the UK as things stand, but cannot be sent back without the formal culmination of an ongoing sporting event.
At a press conference in the Pakistan High Commission here, the Foreign Minister said that the British government wants Islamabad to sign re-admission treaty so that the overstayers and others staying unnecessarily could be sent back to Pakistan.
Qureshi said signing this treaty will be helpful for those Pakistanis who actually have something to do in the UK, instead of those who are just in Britain without any reason or contribution to UK, Pakistan, themselves or the world at large.
“We have initiated a dialogue on this. This will help those who are genuine visa applicants. This will help Pakistan,” said Qureshi.
According to reports, the 15 Pakistanis in question entered the UK in the last week of April. Since then they’ve been travelling from one British city to the other – most notably London, Cardiff, Manchester, Nottingham and Leeds – without any apparent motive or purpose.
“They should really have gone back a month ago, or last week latest. But the fact that they are still here and show no sign of leaving makes it even more suspicious,” said British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
