Priti Patel signs deal to return foreign criminals to Pakistan

Priti Patel signs deal to send ‘foreign criminals and immigration offenders’ back to Pakistan

• Home Secretary Priti Patel has signed a deal with Pakistan on returning criminals
• Ms Patel hailed the reciprocal agreement for helping to stop abuse of the system
• Government has struck similar pacts with Albania, India, Serbia and Nigeria 

Priti Patel today hailed a deal to send ‘foreign criminals and immigration offenders’ back to Pakistan from the UK.

The Home Secretary formally signed the reciprocal agreement with counterpart Yousaf Naseem Khokhar.

Both countries have committed to accepting the return of citizens who violate laws in the others’ territory. 

It is the fifth such pact struck by the UK government over the past 15 months, following understandings with Albania, India, Serbia and Nigeria.

Ms Patel said she was acting because the public have had ‘enough of people abusing our laws’.

‘I make no apology for removing dangerous foreign criminals and immigration offenders who have no right to remain in the UK,’ she said.

Home Secretary Priti Patel formally signed the reciprocal agreement with counterpart Yousaf Naseem Khokhar

Ms Patel said she was acting because the public have had ‘enough of people abusing our laws’

‘The British public have quite rightly had enough of people abusing our laws and gaming the system so we can’t remove them.

‘This agreement, which I am proud to have signed with our Pakistani friends, shows the New Plan for Immigration in action and the Government delivering.

‘Our new Borders Act will go further and help end the cycle of last-minute claims and appeals that can delay removals.’

Official data show Pakistan has the seventh largest number of foreign criminals in English and Welsh prisons, totalling nearly 3 per cent of the foreign offender population.

Between January 2019 and December 2021, the UK deported 10,741 foreign offenders.

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