Detained Pakistanis seek stay in Britain
09 June, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Relatives of a group of Pakistani students who were rounded up in anti-terrorism raids in England but never charged have urged British authorities to cancel deportation proceedings and let them stay on to complete their studies. Embarrassed British authorities were rushed into making the arrests in April after a senior counterterrorism official inadvertently exposed details of the operation to a photographer. Police released all 12 suspects without charge. Most of them were Pakistanis in Britain on student visas. British officials, however, say they want to deport them on national security grounds, and they are now being held in immigration detention. The students are fighting the deportation action in court. Nasrullah Jan Khattak, the father of one of the students, Abid Naseer, said Monday that the students were being traumatized by their detention. He said if authorities did not have evidence enough to charge them, then they should be allowed to stay and finish their studies. “It is the question of their future,” Khattak told a news conference in Islamabad. Britain’s Home Office has refused to say what the men are accused of or how long they might be held before they are deported. End.
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