EASO COI Report. Security situation

English

This report is an update of the EASO COI report on Pakistan, Security Situation (last update: October 2018).The reference period for describing events was from 15 August 2018 until 31 July 2019.

The drafting of this report was finalised on 9 August 2019. Any event taking place after this date is not included in this report.

This report provides information on elements and indicators that may help in assessing the need for international 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 recent trends in the security situation provides 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 15 August 2018 until 31 July 2019. Another sub-chapter includes information about civilian casualties. Finally, conflict-induced displacements are described in a separate section.

EASO would like to acknowledge the Belgian Centre for Documentation and Research (Cedoca) in the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons, as the drafter of this report.

Furthermore, the following national asylum and migration departments have contributed by reviewing the report:

Austria, Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum, Country of Origin Information Department;

The Netherlands, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Office for Country Information and Language Analysis;

Poland, Country of Origin Information Unit, Department for Refugee Procedures, Office for Foreigners;

Swedish Migration Agency, Section for Information Analysis.

The following external organisation reviewed this report:

ACCORD – Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation.

This report was written according to the EASO COI Report Methodology (June 2019).

Policy

The security and human rights situation in Pakistan is problematic. Many citizens of Pakistan are being exposed to ethno-political or sectarian violence and the Pakistani authorities are often unable or unwilling to offer protection. The violence in Pakistan can be mainly attributed to terrorist organisations that are active in the country. These organisations primarily target members of the security services and the army, members of religious minorities and the police. In addition, Pakistan sometimes sees large-scale attacks aiming to cause a maximum number of casualties within a specific community. Religious minorities, primarily Shi’a Muslims, are generally targeted. However, such attacks are rather the exception than the rule. The security situation in the country is further influenced by flares of violence between extremist elements and government troops in the north-west of the country as well as by the nationalist uprising in Baluchistan.

Land: 
Pakistan

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