Interior Minister Chairs High-Level Meeting to Review UPSCALE Programme

ISLAMABAD: MAY 15 (DNA):Federal Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi chaired a high-level meeting at the Ministry of Interior. Officials from the UK Pakistan Serious Crime and Law Enforcement Programme (UPSCALE) and senior officers from the Ministry of Interior attended the meeting.

A detailed review was conducted on issues such as illegal immigration, online child harassment, mutual legal assistance and extradition, exchange of criminal records, illegal finance, and anti-narcotics measures.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi directed that coordinated and integrated actions should be taken to curb illegal immigration and drug smuggling. He stated that immediate and strict action should be taken against incidents of online child harassment, and that all available resources will be utilized to curb the online harassment of children.

Mohsin Naqvi said that full cooperation will be provided for the prevention of serious and organized crimes. He further stated that controlling illegal immigration is a priority, and the deported individuals have been placed on the passport control list for five years to prevent illegal migration. He emphasized that mutual cooperation is essential to tackle illegal immigration and welcomed British cooperation in this regard. He highlighted that new rules in the area of mutual legal assistance between the two countries have brought improvement in this area.

Interior Minister said that all sectors included in the UPSCALE programme are extremely important for us. He added that the capacity of the Anti-Narcotics Force has improved under this programme. He added that it is extremely important to make this programme sustainable for long term basis. The meeting also considered a proposal to include sex offenders in the passport control list. It was decided in the meeting that the progress of the UPSCALE programme will be reviewed regularly on a monthly basis.

Furthermore, in the briefing it was informed that a delivery unit under the UPSCALE programme is fully functional, and Pakistan’s first sex offender register has been established.

Participants from UPSCALE included Neil Fowler, Ken Daines, Habib Gul, Fizza Waheed, and others. While the DG FIA, Additional Secretaries of the Ministry of Interior, and other senior officials were also present on the occasion.