KARACHI: British authorities have announced to transport a specific number of Afghan refugees to London from Pakistan via special flights under their ‘resettlement scheme.
The decision was reached during a meeting between a delegation from the British High Commission and top officials of the Civil Aviation Authority in Karachi.
Both sides agreed to operate 12 flights starting from the next week until the end of December to transport a certain number of Afghan refugees to the UK.
According to sources, each chartered flight, which will operate once a week, would take around 200 Afghans to the UK. The first flight will leave for UK tomorrow at 12:00pm.
It’s important to note that Pakistan has set a November 1 deadline for all legal immigrants to exit the country.
Pakistani Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti, when announcing the deadline in early October, said an estimated 1.7 million Afghans are among those facing forcible eviction.
Bugti further said that a task force had been constituted which will take action against illegal immigrants. “Pakistan is the only country permitting entry of people even without a passport,” the minister decried.
Pakistan has recently seen a spike in terror attacks including recent massive bombings in Mastung and Hangu.
