LONDON: Around 50 British parliamentarians have signed a letter addressed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to urgently answer why Pakistan and Bangladesh have been added to the “Red List” countries.
The letter has been written by Yasmin Qureshi, a British-Pakistani MP for Bolton South East, and is signed by parliamentarians from Labour and Conservatives. The letter questions the UK Government’s decision to place Pakistan and Bangladesh on the travel “red list” with the ban coming into force at very short notice at 4am on 9 April 2021.
It said that placing of these countries on the red list will have a huge impact on many UK residents. “Many UK citizens have travelled to those countries in accordance with the Government’s COVID-19 guidelines. The vast majority will have travelled to visit family, including elderly relatives, whom they may not have seen for over a year.”
“They will have already paid for return flights but are now in a position where they will have to pay for new flights in order to return before the ban is put in place. Flight costs are currently around £2,000 per single ticket. Most of the people who have travelled will have paid for return flights priced at around £500 which are now useless.”
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The MPs said that the vast majority of UK residents currently in those countries will have had to save up for some time to fly to Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The MPs demanded that the government should operate charter flight options or provide financial support for stranded UK residents. “If this cannot be done, then measures need to be put in place to extend the cut-off date,” it said.
The letter raised concerns about “lack of available data and evidential and scientific reasoning” behind Pakistan’s inclusion on the ‘red list’. It noted that the current rate of infection in Pakistan is reported to be lower than the UK.
The MPs also asked the government to clarify when the next review date would be for removing countries from the red list “so constituents can make realistic travel plans”.
There’s been much debate surrounding Pakistan’s status on the red list, and I have personally received lots of correspondence on the issue
Myself and other parliamentary colleagues are incredibly concerned
See our letter to the PM @BorisJohnson outlining our issues below👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/oruLaaA6bL
— Yasmin Qureshi MP (@YasminQureshiMP) April 7, 2021
