ISLAMABAD In a report on Pakistan published on Wednesday, the EU’s Agency for Asylum (EUAA) stated that between October 2023 and October of this year, 28,000 claims for international protection were filed by Pakistanis in the EU Plus countries.
Since hitting a peak in October of last year, when over 3,400 applications were submitted by Pakistanis, the monthly numbers have been declining. This year, the figure for October is 1,900.
Italy was the top destination for Pakistani asylum requests, with France, Greece, and Germany following closely behind.
Just 12% of Pakistani applicants were given refugee status or subsidiary protection, out of about 20,000 decisions made at the first instance by EU Plus countries, according to the “Country Focus on Pakistan Report.”
According to the study, there were around 34,000 pending first instance decisions as of the end of October this year.
The paper describes Pakistan’s political and security environment, the key players who have shaped it, the judiciary’s function, and how some segments of the populace are treated.
It gives a summary of the country’s political and security environment, how specific demographics and groups are treated, and the state of affairs with Afghan refugees.
One of the nations most vulnerable to contemporary slavery in the region is Pakistan, where an estimated 2.4 million individuals are subjected to forced labor or forced marriage.
A major trafficking route, which includes the trade in human organs, passes through the nation.
Although there are laws against human trafficking, it was claimed that their effective enforcement was hampered by the nation’s shaky democracy and inadequate accountability.
Despite the government’s tremendous efforts, Pakistan has not yet fully achieve the minimal benchmarks for the elimination of human trafficking as of 2023.
However, law enforcement efforts have been hindered and a culture of impunity has been established due to state officials’ corruption and cooperation in trafficking offenses.
Bonded labor
In Pakistan, bonded labor, often known as debt-bondage, is the primary problem of human trafficking. Between three million and 4.5 million people are thought to be impacted by this evil.
The foundation of the debt-bondage system is the custom of lending a laborer a loan known as “Peshgi,” or “Begar.”
Due to exorbitant interest rates and creditor-employers’ exploitative methods, it is believed that repaying such debts is nearly difficult.
Authorities have not been able to safeguard individual victims of bonded labor because of the law’s lax enforcement.
According to the research, since October of last year, violence in Pakistan has increased, especially in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The “insurgent activities” of organizations like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have increased.
The violent Islamic State (IS) group’s affiliate, the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), has also stepped up its operations and propaganda campaigns. It even uses artificial intelligence (AI) to disseminate its story.
More than three million Afghans were living in Pakistan as of September of this year. In addition to causing arrests, harassment, and an increasingly hostile atmosphere for Afghans, the government’s Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan (IFRP) has resulted in the return of 738, 583 Afghans.
