Press Release: Pakistan security situation

EASO publishes a Country of Origin Information (COI) report on the security situation in Pakistan.

Today, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) published a Country of Origin Information (COI) Report entitled ‘Pakistan security situation’. The report is the second update of the security chapter of the EASO COI report on Pakistan, Country Overview, published in August 2015 ¹, first updated in July 2016, and provides information relevant for the protection status determination of Pakistani asylum seekers.

In 2016, Pakistan ranked  in the top 5 of countries of origin in the EU+ countries²  with a total number of more than 50,000 applicants. By the end of 2016, more than 50,000 cases remained pending. Throughout 2017, the country maintained this ranking in the top countries of origin and the total number of Pakistani applicants has been steadily increasing.

The EASO COI Report ‘Pakistan security situation’ provides a general description of the security situation in Pakistan, covering the following topics: a brief background on the conflict in the country; actors in the conflict; an overview of recent security trends; the impact of the violence on the civilian population; and the impact of the violence on the state ability to secure law and order. The second part of the report provides a geographical overview of the security situation and a more detailed description of the different regions in Pakistan. In each regional chapter, a short description of the region is given, followed by a description of the security trends, the actors in the region and the impact of the violence on the population.

The main findings of the report include the continuation of airstrikes and ground operations by the Pakistani military forces against militant groups in different provinces in 2016. The military operation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and FATA, Zarb-e-Azb, which started in 2014, ended early 2017. A new operation, called Radd-Ul-Fasaad, was launched in different regions of the country. At the same time, militant or terrorist attacks continued to occur, as well as targeted killings. The situation at Pakistan’s borders with India and Afghanistan was tense. Overall, sources report a decrease in total numbers of violent incidents and casualties throughout 2016 and 2017.

The report was drafted by the Belgian Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (Cedoca, Centre for Documentation and Research) in accordance with the EASO COI Report Methodology. It was also reviewed by experts from the Norwegian COI unit Landinfo, the Asylum Research Consultancy (ARC) and EASO, in order to ensure the highest quality.

It is EASO’s intention to continue to produce such reports on important countries of origin and to update them on a regular basis in order to raise and harmonise COI standards in the EU and to further support the practical implementation of the Common European Asylum System.

The Report can be downladed here.
Download Press Release here.

Any further information may be obtained from the European Asylum Support Office by contacting Mr Jean-Pierre Schembri on the following e-mail address: jean-pierre.schembri@easo.europa.eu

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  ^{1. All reports are available via EASO’s website: (http://easo.europa.eu/asylum-documentation/easo-publication-and-documentation/).
  2. EU Member States plus Norway and Switzerland.}