Pakistan refusing to allow 30 migrants deported from EU to disembark plane

A migrant boy from Pakistan stand behind the fence, waiting to cross the border near Gevgelija. PHOTO: EPA

ISLAMABAD (REUTERS) - Pakistan refused on Thursday (Dec 3) to allow 30 migrants deported from Greece to disembark from a plane at Islamabad airport, the interior ministry said, a week after high-level talks with the European Union to settle a dispute over forced repatriations.

"On the interior minister's orders, the FIA has not allowed these illegally deported people and the aircraft crew to leave the plane," the ministry said in a statement, referring to the Federal Investigation Agency.

The ministry said the 30 were "unverified deportees" who had arrived in Islamabad on a charter flight from Greece.

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