EU-Pakistan readmission agreement

The cabinet had approved draft of the Re-Admission Agreement in february 2007 to safeguard its economic interests because the country was unable to benefit from the Third Generation Cooperation Agreement in the absence of such an agreement.

“If this agreement is not signed, Pakistani trade will be at risk in the EU,” the sources said, quoting the trade minister. They said the cabinet was told that the EU had agreed to encourage its member states to enhance migration quotas for Pakistanis. “The negotiations for the proposed Re-Admission Agreement draft almost broke down thrice in the past on the issue of re-admission of ‘third-country’ or ‘stateless’ people to Pakistan. The agreement was finalized only after the prime minister stopped insisting on exclusion of a clause related to the ‘third-country’ and ‘stateless’ people,” they said. They said all illegal Pakistani migrants would be re-admitted after confirmation of their nationality while the Pakistani government would take 60 days to investigate and determine the nationality of non-Pakistanis. “No one will be re-admitted merely on the basis of evidence of his nationality,” they said. They added that the agreement would not have retrospective effect and would be applicable from the time of its ratification by both sides.

According to Mubarak Zeb Khan of the newspaper Dawn the immediate impact of the agreement would be a large-scale deportation of Pakistanis from Europe, which may have a negative impact on remittances and may also create social problems.
The agreement has not been signed yet.

more from the Daily Times , March 4, 2007