US 'wants British Pakistanis to have entry visas'

[GTI]

I am absolutely astounded...

US 'wants British Pakistanis to have entry visas'

Matt Weaver
Wednesday May 2, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The American government wants to impose travel restrictions on British citizens of Pakistani origin because of concerns about terrorism, according to a report today.
In talks with the British government, the US homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, called for British Pakistanis to apply for a visa before travelling to the US, according to the New York Times.
The newspaper claimed that US officials were concerned about the number of terrorist plots in Britain involving citizens with ties to Pakistan.
<!-- This site/section combo is not set up to show MPU's -->It is understood that the British government is resisting any attempts to single out particular ethnic groups for travel restrictions. The Foreign Office has yet to comment on the report.
Mohammad Sarwar, the Labour MP for Glasgow Central, described the proposal as "unbelievable and shocking. Every British citizen must have the same rights. I don't think America has any right to interfere in this way."
Mr Sarwar, who was born in Pakistan and became Britain's first Muslim MP in 1997, urged ministers to reject the idea.
The report of America's concerns follows the conviction earlier this week of five British men for planning a series of attacks across the UK. Four of them were of Pakistani origin. But according to the New York Times, talks on travel restrictions for British Pakistanis have been taking place for some "months".
Last month, Mr Chertoff held talks with the home secretary, John Reid. It is believed they discussed the visa waiver scheme that allows citizens from 27 countries, including the UK, to travel to the US without a visa for up to 90 days.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph on the eve of the talks, Mr Chertoff said: "We need to build layers of protection, and I don't think we totally want to rely upon the fact that a foreign government is going to know that one of their citizens is suspicious and is going to be coming here." At the time he did not mentioned restrictions on British Pakistani, but he expressed concern that the terrorist such as the July 7 bombers, three of whom were of Pakistani origin, could have used the visa waiver scheme to enter America.

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[FireBlade]

Mhh interesting.
Im not touching this topic with a 10 foot pole though.

[Ganty]

Mhh interesting.
Im not touching this topic with a 10 foot pole though.

Quite agreed mate.

[steve10574]

well its not asking them to cut of a arm just to have a visa


i cant see the issue? i know it says other groups dont have to have them but i am pretty sure i have to fill out something for homeland sercuty when i went to new york few years back filled it in they let me in no probs

[TheManWho]

I read something interesting last night on the intertubes (website escapes me atm) but it was saying how America's tourist business has crashed since the inception of sticter border controls finger printing, photos, making people feel like second class citizens etc.

I'm sure tourism revenue fell $53m since border controls paranoid hike and that America was at the bottom of the world tourist destinations... or something similar

I must get my thinking cap on, where did i read it?

EDIT: Found it mofos, and it's 94m not 53m of lost tourist trade Linkage

[Over Carl]

History button on browser - arrange by order visited?

[TheManWho]

History button on browser - arrange by order visited?

Yeah, I've had a look mate, Mac's history doesn't hold very much in terms of days and days worth surfing.

It was either on the Guardian, Digg, here or BBC... or Boing Boing.

I'll have a look

[GTI]

I am not trying to turn this into a debate on racism. Quite simply we are all British, so regardless of parental origin we should all be treated the same. Blair should get back to the Americans and say either the Visa waiver remains for all British nationals or it doesn't. No compromise, no profiling.

[Q-Ball]

i think it goes against what equality amoung man stands for - everyone should be treated the same. can't judge a religion because of a few bad apples. what i think will happen is that the US will force the issue - no governement will touch it because it is electorial suicide, and the UK will make everyone apply for a visa before travelling to the US

[GTI]

i think it goes against what equality amoung man stands for - everyone should be treated the same. can't judge a religion because of a few bad apples. what i think will happen is that the US will force the issue - no governement will touch it because it is electorial suicide, and the UK will make everyone apply for a visa before travelling to the US

What gets me is the sheer hypocrisy fo all this. The USA is founded on the bedrock principle of all men being equal. Would they allow us to single out American latinos, blacks, Jews etc.. for special treatment? of course not.
And the other thing which gets to me is the fact that they act like they're living in some Tibetan Nirvana where there are no guns, violence, terrorist acts etc... America has some of the most dangerous people in the world, sitting in Universities and studying English lit!!

[grint]

It's all just a safe bet, and a one I would take to tell the truth.

As soon as we get over this god thing the better.

I know the answer, but it will get me banned.