Unwelcome again

Sri Lankan authorities have identified about 1,500 Pakistanis who were asylum seekers and registered with UNHCR.

Holders of the Pakistani passport find themselves increasingly unwelcome around the world. Visa requirements are ever more stringent and destinations such as the UK ever further from reach. The latest government to impose restrictions on travellers from Pakistan is Sri Lanka, which has cancelled the ‘on arrival’ visa facility for Pakistan. The reason given for this abrupt change in policy is ‘security’ — as well as the increase in the numbers of asylum seekers from Pakistan. This latter reason should give pause for thought, not least because it calls into question the human rights record of Pakistan in the broader sense. Sri Lanka is a friendly state, one of the few friends we have in these dangerous days, and was one of the very few countries to offer on-arrival visas to Pakistani travellers.

Information is scanty on the background to the Sri Lankan decision, but the Sri Lankan authorities say that they have recently identified about 1,500 Pakistanis who were asylum seekers and registered with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). They went to Sri Lanka for asylum but may now find themselves deported for allegedly being involved in ‘anti-state activities’ in both India and Pakistan. Because of confidentiality clauses applied by the UNHCR, it is impossible to know the reasons why they were seeking asylum and thus unwise to speculate, but it is reasonable to assume that people do not seek asylum unless they consider themselves ‘in extremis’ and under significant threat. New guidelines are shortly to be issued by Pakistan authorities who plan to travel to Sri Lanka, but it is clear that an application for a visa before travel is now a necessity.



The Foreign Office is less than sympathetic to those asylum seekers and refugees now being detained and possibly deported by the Sri Lankans. The all-purpose Foreign Office Spokesperson, Tasneen Aslam, gave them short shrift in a statement, saying ‘These people obtained asylum in Sri Lanka by badmouthing Pakistan. If they are in trouble, I have no idea.’ This may be slightly ambiguous but the underlying message is clear enough. By all means plan your holiday in Sri Lanka, but think twice before you seek asylum there.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2014.

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In 2013, Afghans, Syrians and Somalis accounted for over half the total number of refugees. According to The New York Times’s Somini Sengupta, “the movements of refugees are a glimpse into the world’s troubled spots. In 1975, the UN agency counted just over 3.6 million refugees with the largest number from Ethiopia. By 1992, there were nearly 18 million refugees worldwide, with over four million of them from Afghanistan alone. By 2004, the number had dipped to about nine million, but by then, refugees from Darfur had begun to flee Sudan.” Over the last decade, the number has increased significantly. How this movement of people will affect Pakistan is the subject of next week’s article.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2014.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.