Access of Migrants to Labor in Pakistan

The International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) is an international organization that serves and protects uprooted people, including migrants, refugees and internally displaced people, regardless of faith, race, ethnicity or nationality. With staff and programs in over 40 countries, ICMC advocates for sustainable solutions and rights-based policies directly and through a worldwide network of 132 national member organizations. ICMC has a long history of service in Pakistan, a country that has hosted millions of Afghan refugees since the 1980s and continues to face a protracted refugee crisis. ICMC in Pakistan has not only provided its various services to refugees but has also served the host Pakistani population by responding to various disasters including the massive earthquake of 2005, the internally displaced persons (IDP) crisis of 2008 and the floods of 2010.

Besides its experience in various sectors such as protection, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), health, education and water and sanitation for health (WASH), ICMC has gained expertise in implementing livelihood projects focusing on host as well as refugee populations. ICMC employs various strategies to ensure that the livelihood projects are successful in not only providing skills to the beneficiaries but also in increasing their incomes either through employment or through initiating small-scale business opportunities. ICMC's approach to livelihoods does not only focus on vocational skills training. It also concentrates on the support necessary for the newly trained individuals to find suitable employment opportunities; in cases where they initiate small-scale enterprises of their own, ICMC finds and links them to main markets.

Awareness raising about refugees' rights is an integral component of all ICMC projects. Thus, alongside its livelihood/vocational activities, ICMC works to ensure that refugees understand their rights and obligations while they are living in a host country. In addition to raising awareness about rights, ICMC also provides information to refugees about the safety nets and services available for their protection. ICMC conducts awareness-related activities on refugee rights with refugees as well as with the host community members including government office holders dealing with refugee affairs.

Since 2005 most of the livelihood projects implemented by ICMC Pakistan focused on supporting host populations affected by natural or human-made disasters. However, from 2014 to 2017, ICMC implemented a livelihood project funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (BPRM) whose beneficiaries were mainly Afghan refugees. Pakistan has hosted Afghan refugees for over four decades; it currently hosts approximately 1.4 million Afghan refugees,¹ of whom almost 60 percent reside in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). In KP, there are 43 Afghan refugee camps administered by the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR). The situation of the camp-based Afghan refugees is quite deplorable and is becoming even more critical, as most of the donors — including the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR — are curbing their support due to a shortage of funds for this purpose. As a result of this donor fatigue, the camp-based Afghan refugees have difficulty obtaining health-care, education, WASH and livelihood services.

Under the livelihood project funded by BPRM, ICMC's main objective was to improve Afghan refugees' lives by providing them with market-oriented vocational skills that would increase their access to employment and result in increased income levels. In order to meet this objective, ICMC employed various strategies based on its past experience. These included a participatory approach involving local authorities and communities, along with post-training support such as provision of tool kits, cash grants, job placement support and establishment of market linkages for the trainees who had established their own small enterprises.

As part of its participatory approach, ICMC established local livelihood committees (LLCs) that comprised 10-15 members from the Afghan refugee community, local authorities and host community members including religious leaders, social activists, teachers, etc., with a sufficient educational level and knowledge of the community to play a significant role in the project. The involvement of community members not only increased the community's ownership and support for the intervention, but also proved crucial in ensuring a broad acceptance of women's participation in the project activities. Awareness-building sessions were designed for LLC members, including linkages and enterprise development, conflict resolution, record keeping, labor laws and rights, gender-based violence and bargaining power.

One of the key factors in a project's success is the selection of suitable beneficiaries for vocational skill training, i.e., those who are most needy and most likely to make use of their newly attained skills to earn income for their families. ICMC made the selection process more transparent and effective by involving the LLC members. The first screening of applicants was undertaken by LLC members based on the agreed criteria; the LLC members themselves came from within the community and personally knew the families and applicants. Later, the LLC members shared these lists with the ICMC project teams, who conducted household visits to further determine the eligibility of the applicants. Once selected, the refugee applicants were provided with skills-based training.

The real challenge begins once the training is over and the newly trained refugees try to find jobs themselves or even to initiate their own enterprises. The government of Pakistan has made it mandatory for Afghan refugees to be registered, otherwise they face the risk of being forcefully evicted back to Afghanistan. The government provides a "Proof of Registration" (PoR) card, which is renewed by the authorities on six-month basis or quarterly basis. Thus, there is a lot of uncertainty regarding how long these refugees may stay in Pakistan. The continuous uncertainty has made the lives of Afghan refugees more difficult. Because of their refugee status and the uncertainty regarding the length of stay for refugees in Pakistan, not many local employers were willing to give jobs even to those who had completed their skills training. ICMC Pakistan's post-training support proved instrumental in helping the newly trained refugees. Besides providing them with tool kits and cash grants for initiating their own enterprises, ICMC job placement services officers conducted meetings with local employers and sensitized them to hire the trained refugees. Similarly, ICMC's marketing officers also promoted the products made by the refugees at fairs and through joint meetings of business owners/buyers with the refugees. As a result of these support activities, nearly 71 percent of the trained refugees were able to find jobs and reported an increase in their income.

One of the main obstacles to refugee employment is a lack of awareness and understanding of the laws for their protection among the refugees themselves and the host population, and in local law enforcement institutions. Due to the fear of harassment, detention and arrests, refugees tend to live inside camp neighborhoods where there are barely any livelihood and income-generation opportunities. The refugees with expired PoR cards face harassment, and when arrested, their release is usually left at the discretion of the arresting officer; they may either be released after negotiations with lawyers (commonly referred to as "release without charge") or booked under certain charges and sent to jail to be presented in court. Most refugees are arrested under section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 10 of the Restriction of Rented Buildings Act (RRBA), and/or 55/109, 107/151, 188/144 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) / Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

Refugees are required to produce surety from the local community or pay a hefty financial warranty to secure their release. Lack of a PoR card prevents birth registration and the issuing of marriage certificates and property or business ownership. Missing documentation such as birth or marriage certificates prevents the renewal of the PoR card and refugees are then ineligible for legal aid and for the repatriation grant offered by UNHCR. A child born to registered refugees must be registered on their parents' PoR card within their first five years of life. Refugees have discussed the issue of obtaining vaccination cards for newborns. Business and land ownership are carried out in the name of Pakistani nationals who may deny their share to Afghan refugees, resulting in financial loss.

To address this situation and to improve refugees' access to employment and legal protection, ICMC and its partner, the Society for Human Rights and Prisoners' Aid (SHARP), provide free legal assistance to registered refugees in various districts of Pakistan. They deal with police and court cases related to harassment and illegal detention, arrest under section 14 of the Foreigners Act and Preventive Law (55/109/107/151), civil cases (financial/tenancy) and family matters. Afghan refugees can access free counseling and advice related to repatriation procedures, PoR cards, birth certificates, education certificates and legal documentation procedures. Modest financial assistance also can be provided for documentation and court cases. A twenty-four-hour helpline is operational and can provide immediate free legal assistance and advice to refugees in need. The helpline numbers have been disseminated through field visits, legal sessions and community meetings to address and respond to refugees' queries. Massive coverage is given through radio messages and legal-awareness sessions in the target areas.

The action also focuses on enhancing the capacity of the legal practitioners (both formal and informal), police, judges, beneficiaries and other relevant stakeholders so that they may address structural and bureaucratic impediments in accessing rights by refugees. Capacity-building events for police, lawyers, civil society and media also help to create a safer protection environment. The police are the initial visible point of contact for vulnerable refugees; their sensitization and orientation on basic human rights is thus essential to uphold human rights within the society. Consultation workshops with different stakeholders have addressed education and other protection issues. SHARP has also arranged meetings with parliamentarians to raise their awareness and to develop a consensus on the refugee law that is currently under discussion in Pakistan.

ICMC has found that the main factor in supporting refugees in the area of income generation is awareness raising, sensitization and counseling of the refugee community, relevant government officials and host populations, particularly local employers and small-scale businesspeople, on refugee rights and laws. Due to their status and ethnic and language differences, refugees usually are unable to find work in the local markets. On the other hand, due to their ignorance of refugee law, the local population, including employers, also is reluctant to employ refugees. To bridge this gap, it is important that refugees learn about their rights and legal status according to the host country laws, while sensitization of the host population on refugee law, issues and challenges is equally important. ICMC successfully filled this gap by bringing the host population and refugees together through the LLCs; it also engaged the refugees and host population members (including government office holders, parliamentarians, lawyers, police officials and members of the media and of civil society) in several awareness-raising sessions and training on human rights and refugee rights.