London: The United Kingdom and Pakistan signed an agreement to return “criminals and immigration offenders from the UK to Pakistan”.
The agreement was signed by United Kingdom Home Secretary Priti Patel and Pakistan Interior Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar on Wednesday.
🇬🇧🤝🇵🇰 BREAKING:
I'm proud to have signed a new landmark agreement with our Pakistani friends to return foreign criminals and immigration offenders from the UK to Pakistan.
This deal shows our #NewPlanForImmigration in action, as we deliver for the British people. pic.twitter.com/UBK7gZ7Z9X
— Priti Patel MP (@pritipatel) August 17, 2022
A statement released by the government of the UK said that this agreement was “the fifth returns agreement the Home Secretary has signed in 15 months delivering for the British public through the New Plan for Immigration”.
“I make no apology for removing dangerous foreign criminals and immigration offenders who have no right to remain in the UK. The British public has quite rightly had enough of people abusing our laws and gaming the system, so we can’t remove them,” the statement quoted Preeti Patel.
She added that this agreement, which she was proud to have signed with our Pakistani friends, shows the New Plan for Immigration in action and the government delivering its promises.
Our new 🇬🇧🇵🇰 agreement is about removing dangerous foreign criminals and immigration offenders who've no right to remain in the UK.
The British public have quite rightly had enough of people abusing our laws & gaming the system to prevent removals.
That's what we're changing 👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/r4CHkILihn
— Priti Patel MP (@pritipatel) August 17, 2022
According to the UK government, Pakistan nationals make up the seventh largest number of foreign criminals in prisons in England and Wales, totalling nearly 3% of the foreign national offender population.
The agreement underlines both countries’ ongoing commitment to tackling the issue of illegal migration and the significant threats it poses to both nations. The agreement also includes ongoing work to improve and expand UK-Pakistani law enforcement cooperation.
“Since January 2019, the UK has removed 10,741 foreign national offenders globally (to year ending December 2021),” the statement read.
