Italy, Spain, Greece back Pakistan’s proposal for ‘legal pathways’ to curb illegal migration

In a significant diplomatic breakthrough, Italy, Spain, and Greece have formally endorsed Pakistan’s proposal to establish “legal pathways” as a strategy to combat illegal migration and human smuggling.

The consensus was reached during a high-level four-nation conference held in Rome, aimed at curbing illegal immigration, where Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi represented Pakistan. The European ministers agreed that creating regulated, legal channels for migration is the most effective way to dismantle the networks of human smugglers and discourage dangerous, irregular journeys.

Consequently, the three European nations decided to extend full support to Pakistan through the European Union to enhance its operational capacity.

Italy, Spain, and Greece lauded Pakistan’s proactive measures to combat irregular migration, paying tribute to the significant 47% reduction in illegal immigration cases from Pakistan, the Ministry of Interior said in a statement.

READ MORE: Italy to issue 10,500 work visas for Pakistan’s skilled workers

Minister Naqvi reaffirmed that Pakistan maintains a zero-tolerance policy against those who exploit vulnerable individuals for human smuggling.

The four nations concluded the summit by reaching a consensus on several critical fronts, including adopting a coordinated approach at all levels to prevent illegal immigration and establishing a joint framework against human smuggling and narcotics trafficking.

The nations also decided to repatriate criminals involved in serious offences from Europe to Pakistan to face legal proceedings.

Pakistan, Greece agree to sign Migration Cooperation Agreement

Minister Naqvi held a separate meeting with Greek Minister for Migration and Asylum Athanasios Plevris to discuss bilateral cooperation.

During the meeting, both sides agreed to sign a Migration Cooperation Agreement that had been pending for two years. Consensus was also reached to increase the number of work visas to encourage legal migration.

The forum decided that a Joint Working Group will be formed to streamline mutual cooperation.

Greece committed to assisting Pakistan in enhancing the professional capacity of its police and paramilitary forces, particularly in technology-based operations.

Naqvi said Pakistan has adopted a zero-tolerance policy against human smuggling. “To effectively prevent illegal immigration, it is the need of the hour to increase collaboration for legal migration pathways,“ he maintained.

Officers of the Punjab Police briefed the Greek minister on the ‘Police Khidmat Markaz Global’ initiative, which was highly appreciated by the Greek dignitary.

The meetings were attended by Pakistan’s Ambassador to Italy Ali Javed, Federal Investigation Agency Director General Dr Usman Anwar, MD Punjab Safe Cities Authority Ahsan Younas, and senior police officers Sohail Chaudhry and Abid Khan.

‎A day ago, in order to promote legal migration, Italy agreed to issue 10,500 work visas for Pakistan’s skilled labour force.

The development came during Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi’s ‎meeting with Naqvi in Rome. During the meeting, both sides reviewed internal security cooperation between Pakistan and Italy, as well as measures to curb illegal immigration, read an official statement released on Wednesday.

At Naqvi’s request, holders of Pakistani diplomatic passports will be granted visa exemption for Italy. The Italian interior minister recalled that this matter had been raised in a previous meeting regarding visa exemption for diplomatic passport holders, read the statement.