Refugee resettlement from Pakistan : findings from Afghan refugee camps in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP)

Abstract

This report surveys Afghan refugee resettlement from Pakistan for the Know Reset Project in order to better understand the processes and practices of the refugee populations’ resettlement in EU member states. This involved interviews with various agencies working with refugees as well as with individual refugees. The collected source material explains how the Afghan refugee community, living in different localities in Pakistan, are informed about resettlement policies, and how refugees are identified and selected and what Afghan refugee groups, if any, are given priorities in the resettlement processes. The report also examines the role played by local, national and international agencies, such as UNHCR, Pakistan-based NGOs, including SACH (Struggle for Change), Sharp (Society for Human Rights and Prisoners Aid), the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and the International Organization of Migration (IOM). More specifically we examined these organizations as they identified, registered and selected refugees for resettlement. The report also considers how information about resettlement is disseminated to Afghan refugees in “refugee villages”, camps or places; how the refugees are subsequently identified and chosen for resettlement; and how they are assisted in submitting applications and obtaining security clearance from the Pakistan Interior and Foreign Affairs departments. We then asked how submissions are then forwarded to the individual EU countries for resettlement and what selection and scrutiny measures, if any, are adopted by the resettlement countries. Finally, the report looks at the responses and reactions of the Pakistani government in the resettlement of Afghan refugees in Europe and beyond. The findings not only add to the empirical knowledge of resettlement in Pakistan, but offer data to improve the efficiency of resettlement schemes in individual EU member states.