UNHCR Pakistan’s Protection and Solutions Strategy 2019-2021 provides a way forward in approaching the statelessness issue and lays out two broader objectives for interventions in the statelessness area: 1) the granting of Pakistani citizenship as a way to access rights and services, and 2) sensitization of diverse stakeholders and advocacy for accession to the 1954 and 1961 statelessness conventions.
In 2020 UNHCR, together with a national partner, continued a legal assistance project for stateless persons in Karachi. The project covered the populations of Bengalis, Biharis and Rohingyas in Machar Colony, Karachi. This population is estimated to form 68% of the total population of Machar Colony, amounting to approximately 700,000 individuals. During the project implementation period, the partner provided legal advice and assistance to a total of 3,275 individuals (the original target was set at 2,500 individuals). The legal advice and assistance provided by the partner mainly related to acquiring identity documentation through follow-up with relevant governmental authorities, including the National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA), the office of the District Commissioner Karachi and the Intelligence Bureau. The partner filed a total of 121 submissions for persons of concern on the Prime Minister’s Citizens Portal and ensured follow up. As a result, 66 individuals received their Computerized National Identity Cards (CNIC), a de-facto proof of Pakistani nationality.
In addition, the partner reached out to over 33,823 individuals via 96 community awareness meetings and 91 door-to-door visits by its outreach teams. The partner also expanded its social media engagement, reaching over 34,456 individuals and conducted 26 advocacy meetings with governmental, semi-governmental and non-governmental entities.
The success of the project can be seen not just through the data but also through other indicators such as the fact that persons of concern to UNHCR continue to return to the office and also to refer other community members to the partner. In addition, it has been clear in this second phase of the project that there has been a significant increase in the number of people who have received identity documents as compared to in the first phase of the project.
UNHCR continued to raise awareness on the procedures for birth registration in Pakistan and the importance of basic civil documentation as a measure to prevent statelessness in a protracted situation. UNHCR engaged with the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives (MoPDSI) in its initiative to bring Pakistan closer to the global and regional Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) standards. UNHCR is advocating with MoPDSI, and the concerned stakeholders, for the inclusion of vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups, such as of refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons in the Pakistan’s CRVS processes. To this end, UNHCR in formal partnership with MoPDSI piloted the Bali Process Assessment Toolkit in three model districts of Pakistan which are Peshawar, Islamabad Capital Territory and Karachi. A Concept Note and Work-plan was finalized for the pilot project in agreement with MOPDSI. The workplan encompassed a gap analysis of all the registration laws and procedures in Pakistan, establishment of a Core Working Group (CWG), final report along with recommendations on inclusive registration system to be endorsed by the CWG. The aim of the pilot is to ensure that vulnerable groups such as refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons are included in the comprehensive registration system envisaged by the Government-led CRVS initiative.
In the course of 2020, UNHCR reinvigorated its discussion with the Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) for establishing collaboration on various matters including statelessness and also submitted a revised draft Letter of Collaboration (LOC) but no response was received from the Ministry.