اردو
  • Dar informs UK Home Office about passport’s cancellation

    Former finance minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar File photo Former finance minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar

    Former finance minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar has visited British Home Office in abidance of law to inform them about cancellation of his diplomatic passport by Pakistani authorities.

    It has been learnt that Ishaq Dar came to know about the cancellation of his passport through media after a letter dated September 6, 2018 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to DG Immigration and Passports was leaked, containing the direction to cancel his diplomatic passport.

    Earlier, it was reported in media that the Pakistani Ministry of Interior had informed the Supreme Court of Pakistan that Dar's passport had been blocked. Under the circumstances, it was compulsory for Dar to approach the UK Home Office and inform them that the travel document — on which he was allowed to enter the United Kingdom — has been cancelled by the Pakistani authorities, in order to comply with the local law.

    After a media channel reported that Dar has applied for asylum, a trusted source confirmed, "Ishaq Dar recently visited the Home Office in order to update the authorities about his current status and to explain his situation after having been left stateless post-cancellation of his passport by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s government.”

    The source said: “Ishaq Dar presented his medical reports etc before the Home Office too; an employee of the home office requested Dar for a selfie with him. Dar allowed him and that picture is being used as an unverified proof that asylum has been applied for. The picture proves nothing. Home office should be contacted to verify facts."

    A source at the Home Office said that it cannot comment on people visiting Home Office and “we don’t discuss individual cases as a matter of policy.

    "People come here for various reasons including extension of visit visas, granting of temporary residency on medical grounds etc. A person's visit to the Home Office doesn’t necessarily mean that he has visited to apply for an Asylum," the source said.

    A stateless person has protection under Human Rights Act 1998 (European Convention on Human Rights 1950); Protection under Geneva Convention 1951; and further leave under family rights. Such an individual, as defined by the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, is “a person who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law.”

    In 2013, the UK government introduced a procedure through which people could be recognised as stateless and granted the right to remain in the UK because of their statelessness.

    The expert said that Britain’s law generally offers many choices for people in destitute and hardship situations and people frequently use Home Office to regularise their stay in the country under such circumstances.

    Dar had reached the UK in November, last year, for medical treatment and has since regularly sent his medical reports back home Pakistan confirming that he suffered from serious cervical ailment and disability.

    He is currently under treatment at the London Neurosurgery Partnership on Harley Street in London's Marylebone neighbourhood.