{"id":11527,"date":"2022-08-01T14:07:27","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T14:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/2022\/08\/pak\/"},"modified":"2024-11-20T22:13:22","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T19:13:22","slug":"pakistan-refugee-issue-salma-malik","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/2022\/08\/pakistan-refugee-issue-salma-malik\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan & Refugee Issue – Salma Malik"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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One of the gravest\nconsequences of contemporary conflict is the mass displacement of citizens from\nthe comfort of their homes to places unfamiliar and unknown. As they move\nacross hostile territory, which once was their home, facing an uncertain\nfuture, the immediate and pressing priority is to reach a safe and protected place,\nas this movement is fraught with extreme danger and exploitation. As the\nintensity of conflict both inter and intra state enhances, the number of\nrefugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced citizens rises. At a\nstaggering figure of 26.4 million, the willingness of states to accept refugees\nis declining especially with the wealthier and developed countries of Europe\nand North America. Labeling them as Trojan horse of terrorism<\/a>, many of these countries\nhave implemented stringent measures<\/a> and laws<\/a> to prevent flow of refugees and asylum\nseekers to their countries<\/a>. Thereby inflicting double\nvictimization on them, by firstly denying them refuge and then scapegoating\nthem as perpetrators of instability, violence, and terror in the host country.\nStudies conducted to examine this casual relation between refugees and\nterrorism have brought forth diverging results, showing that often it\u2019s the interest\ngroups and radical nationalists in the host countries, that target or exploit\nrefugee populations for their vested interests<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

86% of global refugee population\nis hosted by the developing states, that are often riddled by their internal\ngovernance issues, and are least endowed to provide a quality refuge.. These\nhost states most often are neighboring countries that are to certain degrees already\naffected by the spillover violence in the neighborhood. This creates problems\nrelated to border security, law enforcement, adjustment, settlement and\ndocumentation of inflowing refugees, provision of shelter, food availability,\nhealth care and as well as hosting of a large population group for an\nindefinite timeframe. This can and has resulted in socio-economic conflicts\nfrom local to larger scale between the refugee and host groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the 2021 UNHCR\nfigures, 69%\nof the global refugee population<\/a> comes from five countries, of which 6.8\nmillion are from Syrian Arab Republic, and 2.7 million from Afghanistan,\nbesides Venezuela, South Sudan and Myanmar (Burma). 38%\nof this population group<\/a> is hosted in five countries, amongst which T\u00fcrkiye is the\ntopmost with 3.8 million, and Pakistan stands third after Colombia with 1.5\nmillion refugee populations. Before the outbreak of the Arab spring and the\nSyrian war, Pakistan for the longest decades shared the top slot as a host\ncountry. the point to note is that all these top five host countries, belong to\nthe developing world. According to the UNHCR 2015 annual report<\/a>, more than 5.9 million\nrefugees under UNHCR\u2019s mandate (42%) resided in countries where the GDP per\ncapita was below USD 5,000. The \u201cDeveloping regions hosted 86 per cent of the\nworld\u2019s refugees \u2013 at 12.4 million persons, the highest value in more than two\ndecades. The Least Developed Countries provided asylum to 3.6 million refugees\nor 25 per cent of the global total.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan & Refugee Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned, Pakistan is amongst\nthe top few countries to have hosted the largest number of migrant and refugee\npopulation for the last several decades. Amongst those seeking refuge were\ncitizens from India, Myanmar (Burma), Iran, Sri Lanka, African countries, with\nAfghan refugees comprising the largest number. The point to note is that Pakistan\nis neither a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, nor its follow-up 1967\nprotocol, additionally despite an overwhelming influx of refugees, it has not developed\na national policy to the effect. Yet as of the 1970s, it has hosted the largest\nnumber of Afghan citizens seeking refuge due to troubled political and security\ndynamics in their country. The first wave starting with April 1978 Saur\nRevolution in Afghanistan, followed a year later by Soviet invasion which\nresulted in the largest influx of Afghan refugees over the next one decade.\nAfter the Soviet withdrawal, Pakistan was left alone to look after this refugee\npopulation. With the Signing of the Geneva Accords, that formally terminated\nthe conflict, international donors halted any financial assistance to Pakistan\nfor the refugees, with UNHCR providing limited input. The world and the\ninternational audience were now focused on the newly emerging conflict zones.\nAttempts to repatriate and incentivize Afghans to return to their country\nproved modest, as the country remained in a perpetual state of conflict and\ninstability. Additionally with a porous border, mechanisms to ensure\nrepatriation remained fluid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the entire South Asian\nregion, apart from Afghanistan which signed the initial convention, none of the\nregional states have signed refugee protocols. However, due to Islamabad\u2019s commitment\nto customary international law, it abides by many of the principles enshrined\nin the 1951 Refugee Convention. Due to its devotion to and demonstrated\ninterest in seeking a solution to refugee problem, Pakistan became member of UNHCR\u2019s\nExecutive Committee (ExCom) in 1958. And since then it has been actively\nengaged in establishing norms such as the need to fully protect refugees arriving\nin a host country as a part of a large-scale influx, problems related to mass\ninflux of refugees and their right to seek asylum, refugee registration, as\nwell as protection of refugees within the territories of host countries. Furthermore,\nin August 2000 Pakistan also publicly acknowledged its international legal obligations<\/a> to refugees when it agreed\nwith UNHCR to screen Afghan refugees according to standards generally based on\ninternational refugee law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of January 2022, UNHCR\nstated that approximately three million Afghans live in Pakistan, of which an\nestimated 775 000 are undocumented. However, according to Pakistani Ministry of\nStates and Frontiers Regions (SAFRON) the number of undocumented Afghans is\nestimated to be between 300 000 and 400 000. With the August 2021 Taliban\ntakeover, a fresh round of refugees entered Pakistan, despite latter\u2019s effort to curtail an inflow, which under\nhumanitarian grounds was impossible. As the number peaked to 117547 refugees\nearlier in the year, Islamabad has been forced to take measures to ensure their\naccommodation and well-being, further adding to its governance woes. However,\ndespite successive governments\u2019 efforts over the past several years to document\nrefugee population, there is lack of availability of \u2018authentic data\u2019,\nwith several seeking fake Pakistani citizenship documents through corrupt\nmeans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a country like Pakistan,\nthe refugee problem is more of socio-political, and governance related, than\nsecurity in the purely traditional sense. Although, during the 1980s, the\nrefugee camps became an incubator for militant and jihadi training, with a mass\nrecruitment of Afghan youth who later became prominent Taliban and TTP\nleadership is a unique aspect to the Pakistan-Afghanistan refugee profile, the\nworst impact over the decades has been of socio-economic nature, with\nPakistan\u2019s micro-economic profile in select areas with higher refugee\nconcentration, becoming adversely impacted. The absence of a defined policy,\nPakistan\u2019s handling of the refugee issue has been ad hoc, and unfavorable both\nfor itself as well as the refugee population. Its overzealous attitude towards\nthe refugees in the 1980s, had a spread of Afghan nationals all over the\ncountry, which made data gathering and registration problematic. Lastly, as\nAfghanistan remains instable, hosting a growing refugee population alone\nremains extremely difficult for Islamabad. Targeted by religio-political\ninterest groups, and with very limited economic growth options, the refugees\nappear more of a liability than an asset, which needs to be addressed, and this\nhas also adversely affected Pakistan\u2019s relations with Afghanistan. Even though\nin terms of humanitarian assistance and accommodation, Pakistan has always\ntried to cushion and accommodate the rising number, providing health,\neducation, food and civic assistance given its limited capacity. It is unfair\nto expect more, in terms of moral and humanitarian efforts, when it is already\nburdened by pressing governance indicators, internal strife, hosting decades\nold and largest refugee population and now saddled by economic challenges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where protecting refugees is\na major political decision undertaken by individual state actors, it is a\ncollective responsibility to respond effectively to such challenges, as global\nflash points increase in time. As legal framework and institutional arrangements\nimprove, humane efforts and empathy needs to be adopted by all, collectively\nrather than by a select few countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Salma Malik<\/strong>, Quaid-I-Azam University<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Salma Malik is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. She specializes in the areas of Conflict and Security Studies, and South Asian Affairs. She is an alumnus of Uppsala University, Sweden, Asia Pacific Center for Strategic Studies APCSS, Hawaii and Visiting Research Fellow, Sandia National Labs, USA. She is member Board of Governors, Institute of Regional Studies, Islamabad, Member Senate, Air War College Institute, Karachi, and member core group on Gender, Peace & Security, National Security Division. She has served at the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad, and is also on the Visiting Faculty list of leading civil and military academies and institutions, as well as universities. Her publications include an edited volume, \u201cPakistan\u2019s Security Problems and Challenges in the Next Decade,\u201d (October 2015). And \u201cSmall Arms and the Security Debate in South Asia,\u201d (2005) besides articles in research journals, book chapters and monthly columns.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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To cite this work :<\/strong> Salma Malik \u201c Pakistan & Refugee Issue\u201d, Panorama<\/em>, Online , 01 August 2022, https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/blog\/2022\/08\/01\/pak\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Copyright@UIKPanorama. All on-line and print rights reserved. Opinions expressed in works published by the Panorama<\/em> belongs to the authors alone unless otherwise stated, and do not imply endorsement by the IRCT, Global Academy, or the Editors\/Editorial Board of Panorama. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the gravest consequences of contemporary conflict is the mass displacement of citizens from the comfort of their homes to places unfamiliar and unknown. As they move across hostile territory, which once was their home, facing an uncertain future, the immediate and pressing priority is to reach a safe and protected place, as this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":9207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[506,486],"tags":[656,587,752],"class_list":["post-11527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mena","category-opinion","tag-english","tag-migration","tag-pakistan-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}