Rising Asylum Claims in the UK Raise Questions About Low Deportation Rates from Pakistan

Islamabad, March 8: Recently, the UK government decided to impose an “emergency brake” on visas for citizens from four countries due to a surge in asylum requests from individuals arriving through legal channels. This decision has sparked discussions regarding the notably low number of deportations from Pakistan.

According to a report by Pakistan’s leading newspaper, ‘Dawn’, the UK Home Office will terminate sponsored study visas for individuals from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan. Additionally, skilled worker visas for Afghans will also be discontinued.

When UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was asked why Pakistan was not included in the proposed visa restrictions, despite Pakistanis being the largest group among those seeking asylum after arriving on legal visas, she stated that this was not the end of their actions.

However, she declined to disclose whether discussions regarding potential visa restrictions with other countries were ongoing.

Sources from both the Pakistani and UK governments indicated that Islamabad is cooperating with British authorities on the return of unsuccessful asylum seekers. However, many Pakistanis traveling to the UK on student visas later apply for asylum.

Official statistics reveal that Pakistani nationals constitute the largest group of asylum seekers in the UK, with nearly one in ten applications coming from Pakistan. In 2024, 10,638 Pakistanis applied for asylum, nearly double the number from 2023, surpassing applicants from Eritrea, Iran, and Afghanistan.

Initially, many individuals arrive in the UK through legal routes such as student, work, or visitor visas, but later claim asylum.

Government data shows that over 70 percent of asylum applications from Pakistanis are rejected. Despite this high rejection rate, very few individuals are sent back to Pakistan.

According to figures from the UK Home Office, 10,853 Pakistani asylum applications were rejected in 2025, yet only 445 individuals were deported back to Pakistan during the same period, representing approximately 4.1 percent of the rejected applications.