Deportations of migrants

This is apropos a news item "EU to resume deportations of migrants" carried by Business Recorder yesterday. According to the report, Europe's migration commissioner has said an agreement to deport undocumented migrants to Pakistan will be restored, after Islamabad announced it had suspended the deal because of its "blatant misuse".
The report also states that the 2010 agreement aimed to facilitate the return of Pakistani illegal immigrants and other nationals who had transited through Pakistan before arriving in the European Union. "There were some technical issues that have been clarified, in order to move ahead with the implementation of the repatriation agreement," Dimitris Avramopoulos has been quoted as saying.
His statement, according to the report, was confirmed by the interior ministry, which quoted the commissioner as saying that "deportees will be sent from Europe under a clear Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) after finding a solution to Pakistan's reservations."
That the issue of economic migrants has acquired a new dimension following the breakout of civil war in Syria is a stark reality. The visual images of Pakistani migrants on the borders of European country constitute a strong case in point.
It is therefore heartening to note that the EU Commissioner Avramopoulos has announced, among other things, that the European Commission will set up funding to support the reintegration of Pakistani migrants who have returned from the EU and will continue to support the internally displaced/uprooted persons in Pakistan. And, in addition, the European Commission will provide funding for targeted projects on preventing and countering migrant smuggling in Pakistan.
That the human smuggling and its consequences have become a formidable challenge for a country like Pakistan is a fact that has found its best expression in the words of interior minister. He has therefore rightly underscored the need of implementation of the Re-admission agreement - jointly signed by Pakistan and the EU in 2009 - in true letter and in spirit.