The report aims to provide an update on the security situation in Pakistan, which is relevant for international protection status determination (refugee status and subsidiary protection).
This report was drafted by a Country of Origin Information (COI) specialist from the Belgian Center for Documentation and Research (Cedoca) in the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS).
This report is an update of the EASO COI report Pakistan Security Situation first published in August 2015, updated in July 2016, and in August 2017. This report presents general information available from 1 June 2017 to 15 August 2018.
The information in this report results from desk research of public specialised paper-based and electronic sources, which were consulted within the time frame and the scope of the research. The Cedoca researcher, a specialist on Pakistan, conducted extensive interviews with the following experts:
- Matthew Nelson, Reader in Politics, PhD, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, telephone interview, 15 June 2018
- Michael Kugelman, Asia Program Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (United States), Skype interview, 14 June 2018
- Mohammad Amir Rana, Security and Political Analyst and director of the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), Skype interview, 14 June 2018.
This report provides information on elements and indicators that may help in assessing the need for protection. The first part gives a general description on the security situation in Pakistan. The second part explains the security situation per province in more detail. A general description of the province contains information on the geography and population, and on the background of the conflict, including the actors active in the province. A description of the recent trends of the security situation provides information on quantitative (numbers) and qualitative information (examples and description of trends). A sub-chapter focuses on the nature of the violence, frequency, targets, locations, and descriptions of incidents within a timeframe from 1 June 2017 until 15 August 2018. Another sub-chapter includes information about civilian casualties. A final sub-chapter describes population displacements.
The following national asylum and migration departments have contributed by reviewing the report:
- The Netherlands, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Office for Country Information and Language Analysis
- Hungary, Office of Immigration and Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Office Documentation Centre
- Slovakia, Migration Office, Department of Documentation and Foreign Cooperation
- Sweden, Migration Agency, Lifos – Centre for Country of Origin Information and Analysis
This report was written according to the EASO COI Report Methodology.
Policy
La situation en matière de sécurité et de droits humains est problématique au Pakistan. De nombreux civils sont affectés par la violence ethno-politique ou confessionnelle et les autorités pakistanaises n’ont souvent pas la capacité ou la volonté de leur offrir une protection. Pour une grande part, la violence qui frappe le Pakistan est le fait des organisations terroristes actives dans le pays. Ces organisations visent principalement les services de sécurité et l’armée, les minorités religieuses et les hommes politiques. Des attentats à grande échelle sont parfois commis dans le but de faire un maximum de victimes dans une communauté donnée. Ces attentats visent en général les minorités religieuses, surtout les musulmans chiites. De tels attentats sont plutôt l’exception que la règle. La situation sécuritaire est également influencée par le conflit entre des éléments extrémistes et les forces gouvernementales dans le nord-ouest du pays et par le soulèvement nationaliste au Baloutchistan.