Government fails to protect asylum seekers
LAHORE: The news of deportation of a Turkish family living in Pakistan with the UN’s asylum certificate has caused much suspicion towards the government, which has still not denied or confirmed the deportation of the family. The Lahore High Court ordered the government not to deport the family and instead put their names on the exit control list. Given the court’s instructions, if the government has still deported the family, the move shall be treated as contempt of court. Also, this raises the question of the discretion the government has over international law and the status of refugees in a foreign land. As the UNHCR in its statement issued over the matter has reiterated that the governments must not send asylum seekers back to their countries against their will.
The government has hastily acted upon the whims of another government, whose internal issue of a failed military coup has created a trickle-down effect on its nationals residing in other countries. An Indian daily has reported the Pakistani government’s confirmation on deportation of the Turkish family, no such statement by the federal government has been quoted by the local media. The government must come forward and justify its position over the matter as staying silent might not be a wise move to make.
Hamna Iqbal
Published in The Express Tribune, October 20th, 2017.
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