Uk visa process is biased aganist pakistan, says independent inspector

[siddique]

Border Agency 'may discriminate against Pakistanis'

The independent inspector's report is critical of the UK Border Agency
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) may be unlawfully discriminating against Pakistanis, the man appointed to scrutinise the organisation has said.
Independent chief inspector John Vine said it was harder to enter the UK from Pakistan than from the likes of Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
He said staff applied higher evidential requirements for entry and made worryingly inconsistent visa decisions.
The government said the process was designed to target visa fraud.
Pakistan is the fourth largest source of applications to enter the UK.
Race relations Mr Vine, who was appointed by the government in 2008 to act as the UKBA's watchdog, said there was a worrying lack of confidence in the work of the visa section - particularly in Pakistan visa operations.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11690816#story_continues_1 Start Quote

The UK Border Agency was not only failing to be open and transparent about their approach towards customers, but also may be discriminating unlawfully... against Pakistanis
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End Quote John Vine Independent Inspector of UKBA
He said senior managers were dismissive of appeal decisions and staff applied "higher evidential requirements for entry to the UK to customers from Pakistan, and this was not made clear to them".
Mr Vine said: "I believe this means that the UK Border Agency was not only failing to be open and transparent about their approach towards customers, but also may be discriminating unlawfully in favour of Gulf Co-operation Council customers and against Pakistanis."
The Gulf Co-operation Council includes Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dubai.
Mr Vine added: "I believe the UK Border Agency must take immediate action to ensure it is acting in compliance with its duties under the Race Relations Act 1976."
'Tough checks' Pakistan has seen major changes to its visa operation, partly as a reaction to its deteriorating security situation.
Immigration Minister Damian Green said: "Our tough checks are there not to target genuine applicants but those who try to obtain a visa through fraudulent means.
"That is why we will continue to work closely with the government of Pakistan to stamp out any abuse, and why we take a risk-based approach to decision-making, giving extra scrutiny to those countries where historically fraud has been higher."
He said "numerous improvements" had been since the inspection was completed in May, and that 95% of visa applications were now processed within five to 15 days.
Mr Green added that a priority service for the Pakistan business sector has a turnaround time of three to five da

 

[rana14801]

what all frauds we do i think we deserve more harder rules if one can avoid such happenings.we r bothering other nations and countries to worry about our evil genius mind people and because of some our whole nation suffers and they bring bad fame to Pakistan as well. we must check them at our end and find where we r wrong and must try to rectify it.That's how we can build our confidence with all others and there may become a time when we r respected at entry points.

 

[siddique]

u r wellcome BRET_HAWK

 

[Night_Hawk]

Illegal Pak immigrants face deportation from UK

Illegal Pak immigrants face deportation from UK

Updated at: 1240 PST,
Thursday, November 04, 2010

LONDON: Thousands of poor Pakistani immigrants in Britain are being discriminated against in the style similar to the South African apartheid era; hundreds have been arrested by the UK Border Agency officials, even in violation of international laws.

The draconian crackdown on Pakistanis, without any objections from the Pakistani government, started before the visit of British Home Secretary Theresa May to Pakistan last month where she and interior minister Abdul Rehman Malik renewed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) empowering authorities from both sides to curb illegal immigration.

Hundreds have already been deported and hundreds await forced deportation within weeks - without having the chance to present their case before the courts of law and exhausting the full legal course available to every citizen of the world in Britain, barring Pakistanis now.

The “clean-up operation”, targeting Pakistanis only, has caused panic amongst Pakistani immigrants and hundreds of those Pakistanis who are awaiting decision on their immigration cases, it is feared, will not turn up to sign on weekly basis - a requirement for those seeking asylum and awaiting decisions on their cases.

Barrister Amjad Malik, who has started a campaign to highlight the discrimination against Pakistani immigrants from the platform of Association of Pakistani Lawyers, said that the memorandum between Pakistan and Britain is flawed as there are millions waiting to be regularised in UK and deportation and or removal of only Pakistanis without due process will be discriminatory and against the basic human rights of those individuals some of whom are seeking protection under the Geneva Convention 1951 and ECHR 1950.

“It will be also discriminatory if any other country refuses to sign such memorandum, especially when economically crippled country like ours relies heavily on foreign remittances from its citizens, which top any other non-state contributions. This will help Britain outsource torture.”

The MoU did not take into consideration the very poor human rights record of Pakistan and the boundless discrimination that Pakistanis face in their homeland, forcing many to flee the country.

Although the agreement is binding for both countries but it has become a known fact now that the only victims of this agreement will be poor Pakistanis - and the cases of Britons being deported from Pakistan will be rare or negligible.

It is believed that there are around 3 million illegal immigrants working in Britain from all corners of the world, nearly 1 million only in London, working in the underground or black economy but considered the backbone of the economy for the cheap labour they provide. The number of Pakistani immigrants is very small yet they are being singled out for the discriminatory treatment, especially after the signing of this MoU.

Many studies have recommended to the government to regularise the illegal immigrants and high-flying Conservative London Mayor Boris Johnson has openly asked for an amnesty for illegal immigrants.

The crackdown on Pakistanis comes at a time when the British government is known to be contemplating, at the behest of Indian authorities and its business groups, measures to exempt Indian economic immigrants from the upcoming immigration cap from the countries outside of the European Union.

While Pakistani authorities were overzealous against their own citizens, almost no other country in the world has agreed for this kind of one-sided and discriminatory arrangement for their citizens

The heavy-handed crackdown on Pakistanis continues amid the confirmation yesterday in an official watchdog report that the UK Border Agency may be discriminating unlawfully against Pakistanis in its visa decision-making process.

Independent chief inspector John Vine said the UKBA officials were making it more difficult for the people to enter the UK from Pakistan than from states that were members of the Gulf Co-operation Council such as Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dubai.

There were also “worrying levels of inconsistent and sometimes poor decision-making”, senior UKBA managers were dismissive of appeal decisions and there was a “worrying lack of confidence in the work of the visa section - particularly in Pakistan visa operations”.

Watchdog inspectors found staff “applying higher evidential requirements for entry to the UK to customers from Pakistan and this was not made clear to them”.

Vine said: “I believe the UK Border Agency must take immediate action to ensure it is acting in compliance with its duties under the Race Relations Act 1976, and that, where it considers that different criteria are necessary, it ensures that it has the appropriate authorisation.”

Abdul Rehman Malik said that Pakistan had reached an understanding with Britain that it will accept only 120 Pakistani nationals who will be deported every month from Britain.

Guy Taylor of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants said in a statement to our sources: “JCWI continues to campaigning for the regularisation of irregular or ‘illegal’ migrants, this includes migrants of Pakistani origin in the UK.

In the current climate, irregular migrants suffer the worst from cutbacks, and experience situations that lead to further exploitation and vulnerability on the part of these people. We call on the government of the UK to issue an amnesty for all irregular migrants in the UK.

 

[desicad]

Re: Illegal Pak immigrants face deportation from UK

It is true for Indians also. Illegal immigrants and those who overstay their visas must be caught and deported.
Strict action is a necessity against such people who abuse the system.

 

[Night_Hawk]

British visa system may discriminate against Pakistanis

British visa system may discriminate against Pakistanis
DAWN.COM
(4 hours ago) Today

Pakistan is the fourth largest source of applications to enter Britain. File Photo

LONDON: The British agency responsible for monitoring immigration may be discriminating against Pakistanis in the way it hands out visas, a report by the independent chief inspector said Thursday.
John Vine, who oversees the work of the UK Border Agency, found that its staff were making it more difficult for people to enter Britain from Pakistan than from Gulf states such as Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dubai.
I found that staff were applying higher evidential requirements for entry to the UK to customers from Pakistan, Vine said in a new report.
He added: I believe this means that the UK Border Agency was not only failing to be open and transparent about their approach towards customers, but also may be discriminating unlawfully in favour of Gulf Co-operation Council customers and against Pakistanis.
The agency should take immediate action to ensure it was not violating the race relations law, he added.
Pakistan is the fourth largest source of applications to enter Britain, but over the past two years most decision-making has been moved to London because of the deteriorating security situation there.
Immigration minister Damian Green said Britain took a risk-based approach to decision-making, giving extra scrutiny to those countries where historically fraud has been higher and was working with Islamabad to stamp out visa abuse.
But he said changes had been introduced since the report was drawn up, including a new, faster service for Pakistani businesses, and added: The new government is committed to providing a first-class visa service to Pakistan. AFP