In a major development, the United Kingdom has removed Pakistan from its “red list countries” for travel, British High Commissioner Christian Turner announced.
“Pleased to confirm Pakistan is off the red list. I know how difficult the last 5 months were for so many who rely on close links between Pakistan & UK,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle on Friday.
“From Oct 4, if you’re fully [vaccinated] you won’t need a pre-departure test before arrival into England from a non-red country and from later in Oct, will be able to replace the day 2 PCR test with a cheaper lateral flow,” he added.
He also thanked Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umer, Prime Minister’s aide on health Dr Faisal Sultan, National Command and Operation Centre and other relevant departments for their close “for their close collaboration”.
In a follow-up tweet, Turner said the UK will continue to work closely with Pakistan to ensure data sharing and safeguard public health in both countries. “No one is safe until everyone is safe.”
Welcoming the decision, NCOC head Asad Umar said, “Good to know finally the right decision taken to take Pakistan off red list. UK high commission in Pak has been supportive throughout.”
He also appreciated UK parliamentarians’ “for conveying facts about the Covid-19 situation in Pakistan”.
“Ambassador your efforts are commendable….. good news after depressing day for cricket,” Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan termed the decision “great news” for travellers. He also appreciated the British high commissioner and UK government officials for engaging with Pakistani officials for an “in-depth understanding of our epidemic response and systems as well as the ongoing sharing of data and information to enable disease security”.
The news comes a day after concerns were raised by the UK about the lack of genomic surveillance and the low testing rate in Pakistan, which had been speculated as a potential reason to keep Pakistan on the red list.
Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari, who had previously criticised the UK government’s “feeble excuse” for retaining Pakistan on the red list, credited Prime Minister Imran Khan’s “strong stance” on the issue, UK MPs and data-based responses by the SAPM on health and the National Command and Operation Centre, for the change in travel status.
“Pak was dealt with unfairly so it was time for the UK govt to put things right!” she said.
A day earlier, it had been reported that both Pakistan and UK shared full details of the Red List review and therein the progress made and the continuing issues around the Covid-19 response of the Pakistani authorities were explained.
The UK’s action of putting Pakistan on the Red List continuously has caused friction between the two countries to the extent that Pakistan refused to allow permission to a chartered flight on September 7, which was set to take off from London for Islamabad.
25 Pakistani national deportees were on the flight.
The report, originally published by Geo News, cited diplomatic sources as confirming that Pakistan told the Home Office that it will not accept the flight as a token of protest over its action to keep the country continuously on the Red List.
The Pakistan High Commission denied the flight cancellation was linked with the Red Listing. However, a source in the UK government linked the flight cancellation – which cost the UK govt over £100,000 – with the Red Listing.
The report also cited diplomatic sources as confirming that since the last review three weeks ago during which the UK decided to keep Pakistan on the Red List, SAPM Dr Faisal Sultan had held meetings with UK scientists at the Joint Biosecurity Centre.
Scientists at the JC make the final decision on the UK’s traffic light system of Red, Green and Amber countries.
Reportedly, Dr Sultan explained to the UK technical team the measures taken to control the Covid-19 spread by Pakistan. However, the UK scientists told him that Pakistan’s genomic sequencing response lacked.
The report stated that Pakistan was told that the overall testing rates were also low and the lack of genomic surveillance posed serious problems. Dr Faisal Sultan was also told that the UK couldn’t afford to take risks as it would pose a whole new threat to public health if an unknown variant enters the UK.
Quoting sources privy to the high-level meeting, the media outlet reported that JBC experts informed the Pakistani health official that the UK was concerned about the beta variant which was first found in South Africa.
Dr Faisal Sultan, according to the report, told the UK govt that Pakistan was doing everything it can but the UK should focus only on those who will be travelling and not on the country as a whole.
In another development on Tuesday, UK Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Security, Robert Courts defended the UK’s decision to keep Pakistan on the Red List while lifting the ban from India.
In a letter to Afzal Khan MP, Robert Courts said safeguarding public health is the UK’s priority and the “combination of a deteriorating epidemiological situation, combined with low testing rates and lack of genomic surveillance in Pakistan is a concern”.
The minister wrote that the traffic light system categorises all countries based on risk to protect public health and the vaccine rollout from variants of Covid-19.
The minister said: “The situation in India has stabilized and we are no longer seeing a large growth in cases.”
The report stated that the UK government sources have said that the number of countries on the Red List is set to be significantly reduced under new travel rules as the Red List designation policy is expected to be reserved for countries where there are concerns over specific, dangerous variants of concern, specifically the prevalence of the beta variant first found in South Africa.
Pakistan’s prime minister and foreign minister have called on the UK to remove Pakistan from the Red List and the UK foreign secretary has said he wants Pakistan to come off the Red List but added that the final decision will be made by the scientists.
Pakistan was placed on the red list in early April and India followed on April 19 due to surging case numbers and the emergence of the Delta variant.
with additional input from TLTP
