Foreign Office employee in London absconds

May seek asylum after told to go back to Pakistan
LONDON: A former employee of Pakistan High Commission here has absconded after he was instructed to report back to Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad but instead of following the instructions he has disappeared.
The News has gathered it from the reliable sources that the High Commission has informed the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) about Raja Muzammil Hussain was now an absconder and has requested for cancellation of his visa. But this correspondent has learnt that the Muzammil Hussain, who had disciplinary issues right from the start of his posting in London, plans to apply for asylum soon.
He was posted to the High Commission in February 2010 as security guard. He was the only security guard posted in London who was permitted to bring along his wife, two children and mother to the place of duty as other security guards are not allowed to bring their families to the place of posting.
In a bizarre development in November 2011, the FCO informed the High Commission that his wife along with two children had sought protective custody in a local council “in response to serious physical violence by Muzammil to his wife.”
The News has learnt that the FCO, keeping in view the sensitivity to women rights in the UK, had requested that Hussain may be prematurely recalled by Pakistan — a polite way of conveying that an official is unwanted by a foreign government or his immunity will have to be surrendered to allow them to follow legal course of justice.
The foreign affairs ministry decided to recall Hussain to Islamabad but Muzammil stated that he would die if he was sent to Pakistan without his children and requested the High Commission to allow him to stay on humanitarian grounds till his children are not returned to Pakistan. The UK authorities granted five years stay to his family and on request of the High Commission did not further press Muzammil’s removal from the UK. It is now believed that Muzammil planned to get stay for his family in the UK exploiting the local sensitivity to domestic violence but during the investigation it was established that Muzammil’s wife didn’t provide full information to the investigators. Soon after grant of stay to his family, Muzammil started visiting his family who were provided home near Bradford. A colleague who worked with him told The News that Muzammil was not concentrating on his sensitive duty as he was too much involved in solving his family matters here and in Pakistan. Not only that Muzammil fought with his colleagues but also picked up arguments with the community members who visited Pakistan High Commission.
The final straw came when Muzammil harassed a female applicant who visited the High Commission for consular services. A huge argument erupted when the lady along with her husband complained that he touched her with bad intentions.
The News has learnt that in September 2012 two female colleagues working at the High Commission lodged written complaint of harassment against Muzammil. It was then decided that Muzammil should be sent back to Pakistan and was given a month’s notice to pack and leave. In July, this scribe had reported that Muzammil was involved in a fight outside the High Commission in which he was seriously assaulted by a Pakistani community member.
A complaint was lodged in the local police station and the matter was subsequently investigated which found that it was a dispute between two applicants but he jumped into it because he was facilitating parking of car of one applicant known to him. When contacted for comment, a spokesperson at Pakistan High Commission confirmed that Muzammil has been ordered to return to Pakistan and that he had harassed two female colleagues. The spokesman refused to discuss the matter any further and said in a statement: “Since, the High Commission does not know even if he is in the UK therefore we do not know about his intentions. There are unconfirmed reports that he is still living illegally in the UK.”