Pakistan readmission agreement

The European Parliament today approved an EU 'readmission agreement' with Pakistan, providing for the return of Pakistani citizens from EU member states to Pakistan. The Greens opposed the agreement and raised their concerns about EU readmission agreements in general, which ignore whether the receiving country can guarantee the rights of those returned. After the vote, French Green MEP Hélène Flautre said:

"It is seriously regrettable that MEPs have rubberstamped this agreement in spite of the very real concerns about the ability of Pakistan to guarantee basic rights of the returned citizens it receives and the lack of information about the impact of the agreement. Pakistan already receives more refugees than anywhere in the world yet is worryingly not a signatory of the Geneva Convention on Refugees.

"This agreement with Pakistan adds to growing list of EU 'readmission agreements', which focus solely on deporting third country nationals from the EU, without concern as to whether the receiving country can guarantee the safety of or basic rights for those 'returned'. With the Lisbon Treaty, MEPs have the right to reject these agreements and, given the very real concerns, they should have exercised this right today. The European Parliament has a duty to ensure the EU guarantees basic rights in all its policies and this means rejecting readmission agreements with countries that cannot guarantee these rights."

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