Challenging report calls for urgent "new country guidance case regarding Pakistani Christians to provide sufficient and accurate guidance for Pakistani Christian asylum cases

Ranbir Singh Hindu Human Rights Group, Lord Alton and Wilson Chowdhry

On Wednesday 24 February, the All Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief launched its inquiry report on Freedom of Religion or Belief in Pakistan & UK Government Policy. The report challenges the Home Office’s Country

Information and Guidance on Pakistani Christians and Christian converts while also finding that Ahmadis, Christians and Hindus in Pakistan face a real risk of persecution, the likelihood of which depends on their encounters with and actions amongst people of other faiths or beliefs. 

The APPG inquiry’s main findings and recommendations include an urgent requirement for a new country guidance case regarding Pakistani Christians
to provide sufficient and accurate guidance for Pakistani Christian asylum cases. At the very least, the APPG urges the Home Office to limit the use
of the current AK and SK country guidance case in its Country Information and Guidance (CIG) report on Pakistani Christians and Christian
converts to be used only for cases involving Evangelical Christians and blasphemy charges from non-State actors. In the report, the APPG urges the
Home Office to acknowledge the strong evidence highlighting Pakistani authorities’ failure to protect minority religious communities from rights violations
and amend its CIGs accordingly. The inquiry also highlights concerns about the possibility of internal relocation of Pakistani religious minorities,
which the APPG urges the UK Home Office to recognise as unsafe and unviable.

Home Office staff involved in asylum cases, including interviewers, interpreters, case workers and presenting officers, are also recommended by the
APPG to be sufficiently sensitised and trained in the different religious doctrines and terminologies of religious denominations in Pakistan, as well
as the cultural contexts which have enabled and supported the persecution of members of Pakistan’s minority religious communities.

Furthermore, the APPG urges the UK Department for International Development to ensure that overseas development assistance is only provided to organisations
and government departments in Pakistan that can demonstrate their understanding of and commitment to upholding Pakistan’s international human rights
obligations. This appeal is made in conjunction with the recommendation that the Government of Pakistan be supported in maintaining its international
obligations that include protecting freedom of religion or belief, repealing punishments that are cruel, inhumane and degrading or amount to torture
and preventing hatred and incitement to violence that is broadcast on Pakistani media channels, including in the UK.

The APPG inquiry into the treatment of religious minorities in Pakistan and as asylum seekers stems from Lord Alton’s visit to UNHCR’s Bangkok detention
camp. During the visit, it was discovered that the UK Home Office’s CIG Report on Pakistani Christians and Christian converts, which states that such
individuals are not at “a real risk of persecution”, was being used to justify unduly prolonging granting asylum to Christians fleeing Pakistan. The
APPG for International Freedom of Religion or Belief subsequently launched an inquiry into the treatment of different religious communities in Pakistan
and the adequacy of current UK Government policy regarding these communities. The report launched on Wednesday 24th February is the result
of the APPG’s three-month long investigations and analysis which draws on evidence from over 20 organisations, lawyers and academics.

Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the BPCA was one of many delegates to speak at the hearings, he said:

“This groundbreaking report identifies the complex social climate in Pakistan that has seen the growth and stabilising of hatred towards minorities.  Failures by Pakistan’s authorities to control extremism based on religious intolerance, have manifested in widespread discrimination and often persecution, yet countries in the west rarely offer asylum to those that escape the prejudice and oppression. Hopefully this report will be a trigger for more considerate assessment of asylum seekers from the region.”

A copy of the report can be read here:

https://freedomdeclared.org/in-parliament/pakistan-report/