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| India-Pakistan |
| Destination: Asylum abroad |
| 2015-05-17 |
| [DAWN] The number of asylum seekers Pakistain has been producing since 2010 has risen phenomenally. But the government seems least interested in arresting the trend and is, intentionally or unintentionally, trying to obscure the factors compelling more and more Paks to leave their country each year. Responding to a question by Senator Muhammad Talha Mehmood in the upper house of parliament, the government on Tuesday shared with the Senate members only the number of Paks who have sought asylum in Germany, the United States and Serbia during the last five years. "The nature of asylum requests restricts the host government from sharing information. As such, the full information on such cases is not available," the standard reply given to the senators on behalf of the minister of foreign affairs (who happens to be Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... ) and posted on the Senate's website stated. The reasons given in the answer for the increasing number of Paks leaving the country of their birth are also quite sketchy. "Asylum is mostly sought claiming political persecution and denial of civil rights and liberties," it says. It doesn't acknowledge religious persecution and growing violence and attacks against non-Moslems and the Shias as a factor, forcing hundreds of families to flee the country for fear of life. "It appears as if the government wants to conceal rather than reveal the true causes of this surging trend," notes an immigration lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... . "Its reluctance to dilate on the reasons is understandable as no government or country wants to be embarrassed publicly on such matters." The spike in the number of Pak asylum seekers is in line with the global trend, confirms a study -- Asylum Trends 2014: Levels and Trends in Industrialised Countries -- by the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... High Commissioner for Refugees. |
| Posted by:Fred |