Interior Ministry responsible for illegal immigration: NA told
10 February, 2012
ISLAMABAD: "Not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the Interior Ministry is responsible for illegal immigration of Pak nationals" the National Assembly was on Thursday was told. On the contrary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs facilitates deportation of Pakistanis identified as illegal immigrants abroad," said Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs while responding to queries at 'Question Hour' saying that Pakistan enjoyed cordial relations with Central Asian States and number of projects being executed in close cooperation with these countries. Miss Palwasha Khan said prevailing energy crisis in the country resulted in shifting industries to Bangladesh from Pakistan. In the meanwhile, Minister for Foreign Affairs told the House in black and white, that total 4,832 illegal Pakistani immigrants were deported from European countries in last two years. She stated that in most of the cases, the local authorities inform the concern Pakistani Mission about the detention/deportation of a Pakistani citizen. "As soon as the Mission was approached by the local authorities, Government quarters in Pakistan were contacted with the available details" she added saying, "Moreover, the Government quarters were timely intimated of all developments that had taken place on the subject. She informed the House that simultaneously, the concerned authorities in Pakistan including Ministries of Interior and FIA are duly informed about the travel itinerary of the deportees before their departure. Most of those being deported were issued Emergency Travel documents. "These travel documents were issued after conducting detailed interviews by Mission's officials. However, there have also been cases of deportation of Pakistanis where the local authorities coordinated directly with the authorities in Pakistan without involving the concerned Pakistani Mission" it was said. Minister further informed the House that Pak-US relationship constituted an important part of our Foreign Policy and bilateral relations were extensive and actively pursued in different important areas. "Pakistan-US Strategic Dialogue is a major channel for furthering bilateral relations. The Strategic Dialogue has been operational since 2006 and the meetings under the Strategic Dialogue process have continued to take place" she informed while responding about steps taken by the government on improving ties with US in last six months. She stated that a taken series of initiatives including meetings of the Foreign Minister with the leadership of the US including with Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. During these meetings the two sides agreed to take the relationship forward based on mutual respect and mutual interest. "However, since the Salala attacks by US/ISAF forces, Pakistan is currently in the phase of re-assessing and reviewing its bilateral relationship with the US. Ministry of Foreign Affairs has provided its input to the review process" she apprised the House adding that the Parliamentary Committee on National Security Committee had finalized recommendations to be considered by a joint session of the Parliament. "The ultimate shape, nature and extent of bilateral relationship has to be determined by the Parliament which will then be taken as guidelines by the Government" she stated. End.
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