ISLAMABAD: Taking a principled stand on undocumented repatriations, the government on Thursday refused to allow about 30 migrants deported from Greece to disembark at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport. The chartered aircraft carried 49 migrants, out of which 19 were taken into custody after verification of documents, while the remaining 30 undocumented passengers were sent back on the orders of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. In a statement, the interior ministry said the Pakistani authorities were not provided with proper documented proof of passengers establishing their Pakistani nationality. The ministry made it clear that the government would not allow any undocumented person to enter the country. It is worth mentioning here that a week back a high-level meeting was held between Ch. Nisar Ali Khan and an EU migration delegation in Islamabad in which it was agreed that the reservations of Pakistan would be taken into confidence before deporting any of its nationals from any European country. Nisar had also made it clear that Pakistan will not accept any deportee without proper documentation establishing his Pakistani identity.In sheer violation of that understanding, an aircraft from Athens carrying 49 deportees landed at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport on Thursday. Taking prompt action, the FIA disallowed the deportees to disembark from the aircraft. The agency allowed 19 people to get off the aircraft after verification and handed them into the custody of its Anti-Human Trafficking Cell. These 19 Pakistanis had reached Greece via Iran illegally. The interior ministry has informed all the Pakistani missions abroad to demand evidence when host countries seek to deport any Pakistani citizen on the charge of any criminal or terrorist activity. In the wake of the Paris attacks, the government had made it clear to all airlines as well the immigration departments of foreign countries that any deportee without prior verification by the Government of Pakistan will not be allowed to enter Pakistan. “It is a violation of human rights if any Pakistani citizen is deported on terror charges without proof,” said the interior minister in a recent statement.Reuters adds: The EU’s representative office in Pakistan said all those on board the aircraft had been given travel documents by the Pakistani embassies, but that some appeared to have been refused entry because they lacked an interior ministry-issued identification card. In a statement, it said European officials were unable to verify this document: “Obviously EU member states do not have access to this internal information — only Pakistan has.”Greek Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas told reporters that the EU must do more to persuade Pakistan to accept returnees. Greece has been under pressure from the EU partners to directly deport migrants arriving from Turkey instead of allowing them to go elsewhere in Europe.He told parliament that Greece had a few weeks ago tried to send 62 illegal migrants back to Pakistan, but that these had been rejected.
