Britain’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Hamish Falconer, has announced an additional £8 million to strengthen joint UK-Pakistan efforts against illegal migration and organised crime, during a visit to Islamabad.
According to a statement from the British High Commission, Falconer met Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Foreign Minister (FM) Ishaq Dar, where he personally thanked Pakistan for its role in the diplomatic process that led to the US-Iran agreement.
The funding will go toward enhancing border management and visa systems, providing technical support to Pakistani law-enforcement agencies to disrupt human-smuggling and trafficking networks and financing community-based initiatives in areas considered vulnerable to illegal migration. The package will also support the return of individuals with no legal right to remain in the UK.
Programmes under the initiative will focus on improving identity verification and information-sharing, building investigative capacity against smuggling networks and expanding prevention efforts to reduce exploitation risks.
Falconer also witnessed a live demonstration of joint law-enforcement operations, backed by the UK, that allow Pakistani authorities to identify and stop non-genuine visa holders at airports before they travel to Britain.
“The UK-Pakistan partnership is critical for safeguarding global, regional and British national security through close cooperation against terrorist threats, visa fraud and serious organised crime,” Falconer said.
“We are taking this partnership to a new level through additional funding aimed at deterring illegal migration and addressing its causes at the source”.
Falconer also met Federal Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb at the Finance Division, where the two sides discussed bilateral cooperation, Pakistan’s macroeconomic outlook, ongoing structural reforms and opportunities to deepen economic ties between the two countries.
