54th Session UNHRC: Intervention by Mr. Junaid Qureshi (Director EFSAS) on General Debate Item 4
27-09-2023, Geneva
Text and video of Mr. Junaid Qureshi's Intervention on General Debate Item 4 (Human rights situations that require the Council's attention) during the 54th Session of the UN Human Rights Council.
Video of Mr. Junaid Qureshi's Intervention on General Debate Item 4 during the 54th Session of the UN Human Rights Council.
"Mr. Vice President,
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 & 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.
The inordinately large number of youth from Pakistan-administered Jammu & Kashmir having to undertake such dangerous journeys is because of poor living conditions and a stifling environment created by an oppressive regime.
The Jammu & 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.
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.
Mr. Vice President,
Perhaps, such an assertion by this august Council is also in order.
Thank you".
