News / Pakistan

Pakistan seeks proof of terror charge for deportees from EU countries

Tuesday, 17 November 2015 7:13 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 17 November 2015 7:17 PM ]

Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan (AFP photo)

Pakistan says it will demand European countries that seek to deport illegal immigrants being held on terror charges to provide evidence of a potential crime.

On Tuesday, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan issued a directive to this effect to the country’s diplomatic missions in European capitals.

"It is a violation of human rights if any Pakistani is deported on terror charges without any proof," the Pakistani minister said in a statement, adding, "We have to not only give courage to Pakistani expatriates, but also stand by them at every step."

Khan also warned that airlines that transported deportees back to Pakistan without travel documents or the Pakistani Interior Ministry's permission will be subject to unspecified fines.

In early November, the Islamabad government announced that it had suspended an existing agreement on the readmission of illegal immigrants with European Union (EU) countries, except Britain.

Senior Pakistani authorities have accused the European countries of misusing the agreement.

Khan had earlier said that “most of the (Western) countries are deporting people without verification by Pakistani authorities.”

"Another dangerous trend has emerged for the last several months under which Pakistanis travelling abroad without documents are deported on charges of terrorism without verification whether or not they are actually Pakistanis," Khan said on November 6.

According to the Pakistani Interior Ministry, at least 90,000 people were sent back to Pakistan from various countries last year alone.

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