LONDON: The British government has said that there is no extradition treatybetween Pakistan and the UK and the UK government does not shelter orharbour anyone.
The UK government’s Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealthfrom the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said this in aletter to East Ham’s Labour MP Stephen Timms who had written to PrimeMinister Boris Johnson’s Office on 16 December if any arrangements weremade to send back Nawaz Sharif. The East London Labour MP had forwarded aletter of his British Pakistani constituent Khalid Lodhi to 10 DowningStreet.
Lord Tariq Ahmed, the Minister of State for South Asia, has now replieddirectly to the MP, stating that a charter flight to Pakistan successfullydeparted the UK on 15 December 2020 with 18 immigration offenders on board.The News and Geo had reported exclusively that a chartered flight from theUK to Pakistan was not allowed by the Pakistani authorities to expressannoyance but the UK authorities issued legal action threat and then theflight was allowed.
The Minister of State for South Asia said that he cannot comment onindividual immigration cases “but I would like to take this opportunity toreassure you that the UK government does not ‘shelter’ or ‘harbour’ anyone.
The minister added: “This means through which to seek formal UK governmentassistance regarding the return of individuals to Pakistan is through theformal extradition process. The UK and Pakistan do not currentlyhave anextradition treaty. Extraditions are still possible and have taken place,however, and if any extradition request were to be submitted through theproper channels, it would be considered in line with the UK law.”
Read Top Stories
The minister noted that officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth andDevelopment Office had recently responded directly to Khalid Lodhi’sletter. In that reply, the FCDO stated the British government cannot takeaction against Nawaz on the basis of non-bailable arrest warrants served byPakistan High Commission in London.
By: Murtaza Ali Shah
Source:link
