Respite for refugees

Citing high street crime in Karachi, Prime Minister Imran Khan alluded to its cause as being lack of employment

Citing high street crime in Karachi, Prime Minister Imran Khan alluded to the cause as being a lack of employment due to the inability of certain groups to acquire identity cards. Given the security situation in the country over the last decade, employers have been wary of hiring persons without identification documents, in an effort to curb terrorism. However, refugees removed from any such extremist activities and merely looking for options to support their families were caught in a conundrum where they were unable to obtain jobs because their identities could not be verified but they were also disallowed from obtaining Pakistani citizenship and residency documents. Hence, many resorted to criminal activity and threatening ordinary people’s lives in order to secure money to pay for daily expenses. In a change where some of the street crime might be mitigated, PM Khan announced that Pakistani-born refugees would be granted Pakistani citizenship. We welcome this move, but in a nuanced manner.

Granting more people citizenship will facilitate them in obtaining identity cards and jobs which will, in turn, gradually reduce the incidence of crimes. However, the announcement needs to be handled with care. Refugees who would be provided citizenship under this move should be expected to act responsibly. This includes abiding by all laws set for Pakistanis. Admittedly, we acknowledge that enforcing the law on Pakistanis has been a difficult task due to a shoddy judicial system but this has to be a requirement to correct the past crime and corruption. A monitoring system should be installed to oversee how the new citizens behave. In case of displays of untoward or disrespectful behaviour by new citizens, their citizenship status should be reviewed and revoked, depending on the nature of the offence and the consequences laid out from beforehand.

An effective law enforcement and behaviour modification system is one that establishes punishments in advance so that citizens know what to avoid. Even though this decision will not eradicate crime, it should still help reduce part of the problem.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2018.

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