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Migrants and Pakistan

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Geneva, Switzerland chose Islamabad for a Coordination Meeting to be participated in from Jan 17 to Jan 19, 2007 by about 10-15 members from various IOM Missions in West and Central Asia as well as from their HQs in Geneva.  To give migration issues in Pakistan due exposure, as well as give reciprocal exposure to stakeholders in Pakistan to migration issues, as a member of the IOM’s Business Advisory Board (BAB) I requested IOM to take time out and use the opportunity for inter-active Seminars in Karachi and Islamabad. IOM detailed three of their Principal Officers, Ms Anne-Marie Buschman-Petit, Special Assistant to the Director General (DG) IOM, Ms Jill Helke, Executive Officer to the DG IOM, and Mr Richard Danziger, Head of Counter-trafficking IOM, to participate in two inter-active Town Hall format Seminars in Karachi and Islamabad, held on Jan 15 and 16 respectively in association with the Karachi Council of Foreign Relations, Economic Affairs and Law.  One must commend the excellent work of the Secretary General, Ahsan Mukhtar Zuberi.

Chief Secretary Govt of Sindh Mr Fazalur Rahman underscored the importance of migration issues in the Province.  Former Governor Sindh and ex-Federal Minister for Interior, Lt Gen (Retd) Moinuddin Haider, who presided over the Second Session in Karachi, elaborated on the law and order problems associated with migration issues. He said that being the principal conduit of both legal and illegal migration from Pakistan, Sindh is vital to understanding our migration problems as a country, the situation being critical enough for IOM to open a Permanent Representative Office in Karachi.  FIA, NARA, etc sent representatives, however the event could have had better participation from other stakeholders, e.g. Sindh Rangers, Pakistan Coast Guards, ASF, etc migration issues being synonymous with their primary mission of security.  Besides being very disappointing, their absence was a severe indictment of their commitment to their primary mission of securing law and order. In contrast the Home Secretary, Govt of Sindh, Brig (Retd) Mohtarem, extended full support, unfortunately he was away abroad and could not personally participate. I am sure if he had been in Karachi everyone and his uncle would have turned up. In our bureaucracy, in contrast to their training, everything is personalized, institutions have no meaning. One hopes that subordinate institutions of the Govt of Sindh and those of the Federal Govt concerned with migration give serious attention to seeking assistance from international institutions that are experienced and capable of meeting the challenges thereof.

Federal Minister of State for Finance, Omar Ayub, presiding over the First Session in Islamabad, traced the history of migration in the region going back centuries and the nexus between migration and economic development.  Federal Interior Secretary, Syed Kamal Shah emphasized to the select audience that in the upper levels of government there is a serious recognition about the problem, that FIA has been re-organised to address migrant associated problems and about the formation of a Migration Management Call (MMC) to coordinate an Inter-Agency Task Force. The Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, highlighted how migration issues are be-devilling Pakistan’s relations with its neighbours as well as far afield. He deeply appreciated IOM’s role in mitigating the problems.

To quote Brunson McKinley, DG IOM, “Migration is a catalyst for change and development, in a world that is changing at a lightning pace not harnessing the power of migration is shortsighted.” Giving an overview of migration issues and how the challenges can be met, Jill Helke told the audience that when IOM was established in 1951, its Constitution underlined the nexus between migration and economic development. The migrants search for world in the developed world, with or without work permits, this cuts deep social and political schisms – even in countries with a long history of immigration. The US was built by migration, a fair number of today’s Americans are descendants of migrants coming from Ireland and Italy, these traditional migrant countries are now in their turn witnessing boom economies, thanks largely to migrant labour from the less developed world. Richard Danziger who has done two stints in Pakistan and is well-versed with the situation locally, explained to the audience in some detail about “trafficking” in general and the problems associated with the region.

The thrust of the IOM’s senior executives dissertation was that with low skilled migrants competing with native counterparts for jobs, irregular migration also means social problems in host countries, this status leaves them open to exploitation, being forced to exist on the margins of society. Social cohesion is thus jeopardised at a time when security is of major concern to all, the key issue for IOM being labour migration.

After Anne-Marie Buschman-Petit give an excellent overview about IOM, thereafter Hassan Abdel Moneim Mostafa, briefed the participants about the statement of the Regional Mission in Islamabad i.e. directly supervising programmes and support activities throughout the region comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, Functioning in Pakistan since 1981, IOP has repatriated more than 5,000 Pakistani migrant workers from the Middle East during the Gulf war in 1991. While Pakistan has been a member since 1992, Pakistan’s cooperation agreement   with   IOM  in  2000  laid  the   foundation for a closer working relationship, facilities legal migration and curbing illegal migration. IOM, Pakistan works closely with other organizations in refugee resettlement, facilitating the processing and proper documenting of refugees and migrants selected by various countries for resettlement, Regulating Migration, Voluntary-Assisted Return & Re-integration Programme, Counter-trafficking, Technical Cooperation on Migration Management and Capacity Building, and Facilitating Migration.

IOM’s General Programme Support in Pakistan Consists of Emergency and Post-Emergency operation assistance. Responding to the urgent need of humanitarian aid required for the devastating earthquake of 8 October 2005, IOM delivered emergency shelters in the form of tents and shelter kits while providing surface transportation, logistical assistance and organizing medical evacuations, IOM focused on coordinating the IASC Emergency Shelter Cluster, ultimately delivering a total of some 520, 100 tents, 5 million CGI tin roofing sheets, 6.4 million blankets and 2.2 million tarpaulins/plastic sheets to remote mountain communities. They also built 549,872 temporary transitional shelters, the logistics operation comprising 5,241 convoys carried a total of 20,964 tons of non-food items and shelter materials for 56 international and local aid agencies, including the UN, from Islamabad to remote, high-altitude quake-affected areas.

The attention of the Govt of Pakistan (GOP) towards migration issues ranges from excellent to atrocious, directly proportional to the commitment and dedication of the officials concerned.  For a country that is seized with the challenges associated with migrants, lack of interest thereof is unacceptable.  We cannot afford to have officials in key appointments who do not understand the nexus between migration, economic development and  the  law  and order situation. That can only be those in place who care, are committed and fully able to realize the full extent of their responsibilities. One hopes that GOP will do its almost to ensure that the potential of IOM to help Pakistan is utilized to the full.

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