UK MPs castigate govt for keeping Pakistan on ‘red list’
Observer Report London
Pakistan has asked the British government to remove its name from England’s ‘red list’, Pakistan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Moazzam Ahmed Khan said Thursday, following the latest review by Britain of its travel curbs.
The passengers on the red list require a costly 10-day hotel quarantine on arrival.
Georgia, Mexico, and France’s Indian Ocean territories of La Reunion, and Mayotte have also been moved onto the red list.
Moreover, passengers from red list countries need to take a COVID-19 test before they enter England — children aged 10 and under do not need to take it.
Meanwhile, Khan said the coronavirus situation is better in Pakistan, except for Karachi, “and our government has done tremendous work in its COVID-19 response”.
The British government should “appreciate Pakistan’s coronavirus response, review its decisions, and consider Pakistan’s recommendations,” the envoy added.
Meanwhile, All Parties Parliamentary Group on Pakistan chief Yasmin Qureshi and MP for Bradford West, Naz Shah, slammed the British government for keeping Pakistan on the red list and removing India, Qatar, and other countries from it.
British lawmakers Yasmin Qureshi and Naz Shah were of the view that coronavirus rates in Pakistan were averaging around 4,500 per day, around five times lower than the United Kingdom but in India, where the delta variant emerged and precipitated Britain’s third wave, cases are at around 40,000 per day.
Pakistan has done relatively well compared to its neighbours and has managed to do this whilst avoiding a lockdown, Qureshi said.
“I am dismayed at the government’s decision to keep Pakistan on the travel red list whilst removing other countries in the Middle East and South Asia region.
Pakistan has no variant of concern reported and cases remain relatively low when compared with India and the UK yet is punished unnecessarily,” she said.
“These changes point to one thing and one thing only — government politicking. The government has opted to remove India now to best prepare them for trade negotiations and is not based on data nor science.”
