Pakistani students freed after being unlawfully forced into hotel quarantine in UK

LONDON: Two international Pakistani students, who were forced into unlawful hotel quarantine in London, have been freed after legal intervention at the London High Court.

Muhammad Hashim Kapadia and Ali Irzam Kathia enrolled at the Queen’s Mary University of London, arrived in the UK on Friday, September 24 2021, on a valid Tier-4 student visa from Istanbul after Pakistan had been moved to the amber list from the red list for international travel.

Upon arrival in the UK, the students, and despite clarifying the new COVID-19 rules for international travel, were unlawfully forced to book the “Managed Hotel Quarantine Package” by the Immigration Officers at London Stansted Airport. 

The students contacted this correspondent who got them in touch with Sheryar Khan, a lawyer who heads the immigration department at a central London law firm. Khan immediately took up the student's case to the London High Court, seeking their immediate release.

The Royal Court of Justice took up this matter on an urgent basis and ordered the UK government to respond within 24 hours and take a position on the case. The concerned ministers taken on board regarding the matter belonged to the Health and Social Care and the Home Department, respectively.

Sheryar Khan, from Connaught Law who took the case to London high court, said the judge reviewed the case and ordered the government to release the students and return their full hotel quarantine package money of nearly £4000.

Both Hashim and Kathia had travelled from Pakistan to Turkey and arrived from an amber list country since Turkey was out of the red list on 22nd September at 4am.

The students told this reporter: “We were detained by the UK Border Force officers and were forced to buy a red list quarantine package. This is very unfair and unprofessional."

They added: "After we arrived in London, the immigration officer wasn’t aware of the rules himself so he asked us about our travel history. They then said that our travel history indicates we were in a red list country in the past 10 days and that we should pay for the red list package. The UK government website clearly states that after September 22, arrivals from both Pakistan and Turkey will be considered as amber."

Sheryar Khan said that it was unfortunate that the two students had to go through tough three days for no fault of their own.

He said: “Within hours of applying to the court, we were informed by lawyers for the government that they will concede and will be immediately releasing both the students. They have further agreed to refund the cost of the managed hotel quarantine package.”