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Pakistan angrily reacts to nationals’ harassment in Britain

04 November 2010 23:44 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Pakistan Senate Committee has protested the harassment of nationals in the United Kingdom despite the signing of the MoU on Managed Migration between the two countries, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday, APA reports quoting news.xinhuanet.com website.

Pakistan and the UK renewed a five-year MoU on immigration last week during the visit of British home secretary Theresa May.

Besides the reported harassment of Pakistanis in the UK, British media has also reported that the UK Border Agency has been warned it may be discriminating unlawfully against Pakistanis applying for British visas.

Pakistan is the fourth largest source of visa applications to visit Britain, with 147,000 made last year.

"The Senate Standing Committee on Interior took serious notice of media reports indicating that Pakistanis residing in the United Kingdom were being targeted in the wake of the signing of the MoU on Managed Migration between Pakistan and the United Kingdom recently," the Foreign Ministry said.

In accordance with the decision of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi has raised this issue with the British High Commissioner Adam Thomson at the Foreign Ministry, a statement said.

The Foreign Minister drew High Commissioner’s attention to media reports and strongly advised the British government against taking any precipitate actions against the Pakistanis residing in the United Kingdom, it said.

The Foreign Minister underscored that a large Pakistani community in the United Kingdom was generally law-abiding and was contributing to the United Kingdom’s economy, the statement said.

"The Pakistan’s High Commissioner in London has also been instructed to ensure that the rights and welfare of Pakistanis residing in the United Kingdom must be fully safeguarded," it added.