KARACHI: Rejecting the report published by “The Sun”, British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Adam Thomson has assured that the UK trusted Pakistan’s passport issuance system and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and ruled out any possibility of anyone traveling to UK as part of Olympics squad on fake visa.
“We trust as well as are satisfied with Pakistan’s passport system and NADRA,” Thomson said while addressing a press conference at the National Press Club.
“Each and every thing was checked and there was no chance to proceed to the UK on fake documents,” he further added.
Commenting on a story that appeared in The Sun, Thomson said, “I am no one to determine the truth of the British tabloid story regarding passport forgery in Pakistan,” but also ruled out the possibility of unauthorized persons being part of the Pakistani contingent at the Olympic Games.
“It takes athletes or officials several months to become part of the contingent. It was a practice that was over long ago. It is totally absurd to believe that unconcerned individuals could sneak into Olympic contingent. Getting accreditation is a lengthy process that requires months of scrutiny. It is almost impossible to become a part of contingent nearer to the start of Games,” he added.
He accepted that incidents of fake visa seekers were high and that in the past year alone more than 4,000 visa forgery cases had been identified.
He said that every country has visa scam incidents. “We don’t claim to be perfect ourselves off course. There are flaws in passport issuance but it does not mean the whole country is responsible for one incident,” he added.
He further stated, “I wish the Pakistani Olympic and Paralympics teams the very best of luck as they proudly represent their nation at the London 2012 Games. It will be wonderful to watch UK, Pakistani and world nations set world records and bring home gold medals,” he held.
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