Geneva [Switzerland], September 27 : Research analyst and Kashmiri activist told the United Nations that people from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir are forced to migrate to other countries due to the repressive politics of Islamabad.
In his intervention during the 54th Session of UN Human Rights in Geneva, Junaid Qureshi said, “In the worst migrant boat disaster in the Mediterranean Sea, a boat carrying 750 people capsized in June this year. At least 300 people from Pakistan, including 135 from Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir died”.
“Such tragedies have become a recurring feature for Pakistanis, who see no end to the devastating economic, political and climate crises that are compelling them to flee”, said Quereshi, also the director of the Amsterdam-based European Foundation for South Asian Studies.
An inordinately large number of youth from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir have to undertake such dangerous journeys is because of poor living conditions and a stifling environment created by an oppressive regime.
“The Jammu and Kashmir issue is complex, but Islamabad has no locus standi there, as the princely State had legally acceded to India. The primary question, then is, should an occupying power be allowed to hold on to territory without legal title, call it Azad or free but treat it like a colony to be exploited and ceded, and impoverish its people through exploitative policies and culpable inattention, thereby forcing them to leave in large numbers just to ensure survival,” Quereshi told the UN.
He said that human trafficking remains a thriving ‘industry’ in Pakistan surviving on patronage of unscrupulous politicians and officials. This was underlined by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, which asked the State to take responsibility “for its part” in the Greece tragedy.
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