The UK is letting in corrupt politicans but screening out hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Pakistani visa applicants. Why not hit back and stop the British travelling to Pakistan, writes Shahrezad Samiuddin

It’s a tough call for governments: who to let in and who to hold back as the world fights terrorism. But the consensus in Pakistan is that British authorities have taken the matter too far when it comes to considering Pakistanis applying for UK visas.

Islamabad was constrained to take up the matter in a fit of anger last week at the highest level with British leaders after reports appeared in the media that some 200,000 applications, along with the passports, were pending with the British High Commission for months, and the aspirants were put on an indefinite hold.

In a move aimed at damage control, Prime Minister Gordon Brown dispatched British Defence and Home Secretaries Bob Ainsworth and Alan Johnson to Islamabad, who heard the foreign office, Prime Minister Gilani and President Zardari reiterate Pakistan’s dismay. The ministers offered an apology for the mess and assured Pakistanis of making amends.

However, public anger refuses to die down anytime soon as thousands of Pakistani students who had paid their fees lost the chance to reach their universities in time for this year’s academic session. No word yet on whether their places will be secured for next year in respective universities or if indeed the fees they have paid will be refunded.

Many sceptical Pakistanis simply heard the British authorities and their reservations regarding the denial of visa to Pakistanis, and felt that the visiting British secretaries needed to hear more in return but didn’t. Some say Pakistan should reciprocate by applying the same yardstick to UK nationals wishing to visit Pakistan. Here’s why.

A large number of Muslim British Asians come here who attend or visit militant seminaries every year. Some make huge donations to such seminaries to fund their militant activities inside Pakistan; others acquire training and go back to the UK and elsewhere to start terror networks of their own. Such visitors pose a serious threat to Pakistan’s own security and its reputation abroad.

Imagine the upheaval and outrage such a Pakistani visa policy would cause in the UK if Islamabad applied it to Britons wishing to visit Pakistan.
But if you are a Pakistani trying to travel to the UK, there’s little in law here to bar visa officers from showing a racist attitude towards you. Often, you are deemed to have no son, daughter, a parent, a spouse or a terminally ill close friend or a relation you want to unite with. You are not even seen as a student wishing to continue your studies abroad.

According to a blogger writing in Dawn, 'You are on your own, alone and may be treated as subhuman—if human at all.' He goes on to say words to the effect that, unless, of course, you can show that you have been wronged by the rest of the subhuman ‘Pakis’ who have put you through incarceration and/or a life-threatening ordeal in your own country; alternatively it could suffice to secure a British visa, for instance, if you are a politician wanted for murder and mayhem back home, and seeking to escape justice. Chances are if your crime is bad enough to warrant a death penalty or a life sentence, you could even be offered British citizenship.

A visa, after all, is not a right but a privilege which a host country can deny a foreign citizen, with or without giving a reason.

It's true that most terrorist attacks that have taken place in the West in recent years have a link to Pakistan, but while other western governments have been circumspect in screening out potential terrorists, British authorities have applied a blanket ban of sorts. Sports teams, celebrities, students and many well know regular visitors—read shoppers— and even those seeking medical treatment in the UK have been denied visas.

The visiting British ministers have for now assured Pakistanis that the visa applications’ backlog at the high commission will be cleared soon, and a more acceptable visa regime will be applied henceforth. Time alone will tell if that’s true.

The writer is a freelance Pakistani journalist based in Karachi