British-Pakistanis in limbo after Pak travel ban

LONDON: Thousands of British-Pakistanis are in limbo due to the travel ban imposed by the Pakistan’s government after the new variant of COVID-19 spread – forcing dozens of countries to impose travel bans on flights from Britain.

Pakistan followed European countries, India and some Gulf countries to slap a ban on flights from the United Kingdom and since then thousands of British-Pakistanis have been in a state of confusion, waiting for the restrictions to be lifted or eased. Majority of the 40 countries which slapped travel bans from the UK flights have since allowed their own nationals to travel. On Monday night, a chartered flight of 371 seats from Manchester to Islamabad carried only one passenger from Sialkot who was on a visit visa.

The Pakistan’s government through the ministry of aviation notification dated on December 21, 2020 banned arrivals from the UK. This ban was to last until December 29, 2020 but on December 28 this ban was further extended until January 4, 2021 but the confusion persists and there is no clarity even now.

The UK is home to the largest Pakistani expatriates in Europe. This ban has prevented a large number of British-Pakistanis planning to visit Pakistan during winter holidays.

A large number of Pakistanis have contacted this correspondent, who are under duress and mental fatigue due to the ongoing pandemic and their situation has been exacerbated by the fact that their travel plans have been disrupted. Pakistan banned arrivals of all dual nationals and Pakistanis living in the UK under settled status or work permits holding Pakistani passports; it only allowed those on visit/business visas to travel to Pakistan from the UK.

The biggest concern Pakistanis have is that various airlines are charging for rescheduling of the flights or offering e-vouchers which can be redeemed only to rebook on the same carrier within the next two years.

Thousands of Pakistanis have travelled from London and elsewhere to Heathrow Airport in London and other airports with confirmed tickets but the flights were cancelled and in other cases the passengers were not allowed on board.

There are hundreds of Pakistanis stuck in the UK who are on a travel and business visa and still unable to get on the flights to Pakistan.

There is a common complaint that the people allowed travelling to Pakistan, who were in the UK either on visit or business visa, pose similar threat of carrying the new variant as any other dual citizen Pakistani- British. The diaspora members feel that they are aware of a possible threat of the virus transmission to Pakistan but why cannot the Pakistani approach be in line with the other European governments who are allowing their nationals to travel back with a pre-departure negative test.

Naveed Hussain, who works as a barber in London booked his tickets to Pakistan in August 2020 to visit his ailing mother and family. He was scheduled to fly out on Boxing Day. His travel plans were interrupted due to the ban imposed by the Pakistani government. He has since changed his ticket twice and paid the fees each time.

Syed Sajid Naqvi reached Heathrow Airport Monday with his family members to catch a flight to Islamabad but the flight was cancelled at the last minute, leaving around 75 passengers in the lurch. He shared videos of his experience with Geo News and explained that cancellation of the flight and the fact that he will have to travel back home to East London on public transport meant that the whole family would be exposed to the virus risk.

Sheikh Iftikhar, a businessman from Gujranwala, came to London in the first week of December and has been unable to travel to Washington from here. He said: “I have been trying since December 25 to catch a flight to Islamabad but I was stopped from getting on the plane but I was told that I needed to have a COVID-19 negative test. I got that done and went again on 27th but there was no flight. I have spent nearly £1000 extra just because of the delays and I just can’t wait to be back with my family. It’s a nightmare for me”.