The phenomenon is due to the exploitation of debt work and has been documented by the European Union Asylum Agency. In one year, more than 28,000 applications for international protection have arrived in the EU, and 34,000 are still pending. The report highlights the deterioration of democracy and the increase in violence, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkwa and Balochistan.
Islamabad () – Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries to forms of modern slavery, which – it is estimated – affects between 3 and 4.5 million people, says a report published yesterday by the European Union Asylum Agency , created in 2022 to provide assistance with reception procedures to the national authorities of member countries.
For the first time the EU has drawn up a report on Pakistan, according to which in one year, from October 2023 to October 2024, 28 thousand applications for international protection were received, the majority in Italy, followed by France, Greece and Germany. Only 12% of applicants have been granted refugee status (those persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a certain social group or political opinion) or alternatively subsidiary protection (recognized for those who do not possess the requirements to be recognized as a refugee but for whom there are serious reasons to believe that, if they return to their country of origin, they would be at risk of being tortured, sentenced to death or finding themselves in situations of violence due to a conflict). And at the end of October there were still 34,000 decisions pending in the first instance.
The socio-political conditions that Pakistan finds itself in is what forces people to leave the country. It is estimated that at least 2.4 million people are forced into forced labor or marriage. The most common form of modern slavery is related to debt labor. In the province of Sindh alone, it is estimated that around 600,000 people, mostly Christians and Hindu Dalits (also continually affected by the misuse of the blasphemy law), are forced into forced labor, while throughout In the country around 700,000 children are subjected to forced labor in brick kilns. About a total of 3 to 4.5 million people in slavery.
The exploitation system is based on the traditional practice of granting a loan to a worker, called “Peshgi” or “Begar”. But in reality repayment is virtually impossible due to high interest rates and the exploitative practices of creditor-employers. According to several investigations, in addition, the phenomenon of human trafficking has been aggravated by climate changes, especially floods, which have increased rates of poverty, displacement and food insecurity.
The country – the report continues – is unable to implement the regulations that should protect vulnerable subjects due to the growing weakening of democracy. Widespread corruption and the complicity of public officials in trafficking crimes have hampered law enforcement and created a culture of impunity. Among the persecuted minorities are also Afghan migrants – close to 3 million -. Furthermore, a repatriation program was launched in September last year and more than 738,000 people were expelled from the country, which has given rise to an increasingly hostile environment, the EU document says.
Using data from some of the main local research centres, the European Union agency has documented the increase in violence, especially in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where the Pakistani Taliban (called Tehrik-e Taliban) are respectively active. Pakistan or TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). 84% of the episodes of terrorism and security force operations occurred in these two regions. In September 2024, Balochistan surpassed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the number of terrorist attacks for the first time, while Pashtun-majority regions continue to account for 64 percent of all victims of violent episodes, the number of which increased from around 700 per year in 2020. to 1,800 in 2023.
Researchers have observed a growing deterioration of state authority in these two provinces, despite several anti-terrorist campaigns being launched. In October this year, the Peshawar High Court ordered that all courts in the southern Waziristan and Tank districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa be moved to Dera Ismail Khan, following multiple attacks on judges. The Islamic State has also intensified its activities in Khorasan Province (ISKP), and has even begun to spread propaganda through the use of artificial intelligence, the report continues.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are also the provinces where the highest number of forced disappearances are recorded, which the government uses as an instrument of political suppression against critical voices: journalists, human rights defenders and members of minorities. According to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, more than 10,000 reports of enforced disappearances have been filed across Pakistan in recent months.
There also continues to be strong political uncertainty. The imprisonment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and the crackdown on his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have sparked protests across the country, generating new political unrest. At the economic level there has also been no improvement: poverty, inflation and unemployment rates have continued to rise and the austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund as a guarantee to obtain cheap loans have not alleviated the financial difficulties of the Pakistani population.
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