UK, Pakistan to swap criminals to strengthen cooperation

Pakistan and the UK on Thursday signed a prisoner transfer agreement allowing foreign inmates in both countries to serve their sentences in their home country. Pakistan's Interior Secretary Azam Suleman Khan and British High Commissioner to Pakistan Thomas Drew signed the UK-Pakistan Prisoner Transfer Agreement in Islamabad, Dawn online reported. The federal Cabinet approved the treaty on swapping prisoners with the UK in the beginning of November. Drew called it an "important step" for both countries.

According to the British High Commission, the agreement restores and updates a previous treaty between the UK and Pakistan and includes assurances that all transferred prisoners will serve their sentences before being released. It also allows inmates to prepare for reintegration into their home communities when they are eventually released from prison.