UK Home Secretary Questioned on Pakistanis' Exclusion from Visa Suspensions Affecting Afghans

Kamila Toumini, a reporter for The Telegraph, questioned UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood at a press conference on Friday about why the suspension of work and student visas, announced for citizens of Afghanistan and three other countries, does not apply to Pakistanis.

Toumini noted that official statistics from last year show about 10,000 Pakistanis who entered Britain on work or student visas subsequently applied for asylum, accounting for one-fourth of all such cases. She highlighted that more than 70% of these Pakistani asylum claims were rejected, but only 4% of those individuals were deported.

Britain announced on Tuesday the suspension of student visas for citizens of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, and also barred Afghans from obtaining work visas.

Mahmood responded that the government has recently adopted this approach for the first time and it remains ongoing. She said discussions are underway with other countries and the list of affected nations could expand, but did not specifically address visa restrictions for Pakistanis.

The UK's visa suspensions for Afghans have drawn reactions. Shahrzad Akbar, former head of Afghanistan's government human rights commission, criticized a UK envoy's statement on the halt, asking if it resembled "the Taliban's temporary ban on girls' education that has lasted 5 years."

The UK envoy stated the suspensions for Afghans stem from the temporary abuse of such visas for asylum applications.