PAKISTAN: Government deports Turkish family violating UNHCR’s asylum status and Court’s stay order

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the forced deportation of a Turkish family. They had been granted asylum status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Secret State Agencies and plain clothes persons arrested and then abducted them. The family included Mr. Mesut Kacmez, the former vice-president and director of Pak-Turk Schools in Islamabad, his wife and two teen age daughters. After keeping them in incommunicado for 17 days they were blindfolded deported without their passports to Turkey in an unmarked flight.

This illegal arrest and deportation took place after the visit to Turkey of Punjab’s Chief Minister, the younger brother of former Prime Minister, Nawaz Shareef to Turkey. It appears that the Minister asked for the deportation of the Kacmez family on suspicion of involvement in a coup to assassinate the President of Turkey.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Mr. Mesut Kacmez, the former director of a Pak-Turk School, his wife Meral Kaçmaz and his two teenage daughters were reportedly transferred to Ankara, Turkey in the early hours of October 14, 2017 for interrogation. They were blindfolded, put on an unmarked flight from Islamabad to Istanbul without their passports

On September 27, 2017, Kacmez and his family vanished after their house was raided by persons allegedly from State Intelligence Agencies. It was already understood that the family would be deported, which proved correct after 17 days of being disappeared. Please see our statement here.

The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) had already given his family a Certificate to stay in Pakistan up to November 24, 2017. It was later extended for one year to 2018. However the Government ignored the UNHCR mandate and forcibly sent them all back to Turkey. 

The Lahore High Court had also ordered that the family was not to be deported. On October 7, 2017, according to the ‘thenews.com.pk, the Lahore High Court extended its injunctive order for two weeks. This came after the Federal Government informed the Court that Law Enforcement Agencies had been tasked to trace the alleged abducted Turkish nationals. 

At this point, the Lahore High Court filed contempt proceedings against the Pakistani Government in the case of the missing Turkish family. The Court furthered ordered the Federal Government to present a comprehensive list of all Turkish nationals living in Pakistan. Their names are to be added to the exit control list to restrain the Government from repatriating them.

The government of Pakistan has shown no morality, respect for the Law, the Constitution or its international obligations.

In complete disregard for the Rule of Law, the State has contravened the court order and deported the family without their passports. The facts speak volumes about the lack of respect for the Rule of Law in the country. Law Enforcement Agencies have morphed into entities not accountable to any State Institution. 

They can and do as they please without fear of repercussions.

Ironically, Pakistan is a constitutional and democratic state but the Courts have de facto proved to be powerless and our Laws toothless. The Governmental system for deporting alleged foreign criminals without due process of law breaches their fundamental human rights.

The State’s arbitrary “deport first, appeal later” policy, is illegal and in contravention of international treaties, norms and human rights standards.

Pakistan has not ratified the Refugee Convention and does not have domestic legislation on asylum. This leads to manipulation and disregard for the basic human rights of refugees and asylum seekers. Due to lack of domestic legislation the aliens-as they are colloquially called by the Foreigner’s Act 1946- don’t actually have any legal standing in Pakistan. This fact hardly comes as a surprise. When a country denies its own citizens their due rights, one can expect the same for refugees.

There is no provision in the Constitution for refugees. They are viewed as illegal immigrants according to the Law. The prevailing Foreigners Act contains some draconian provisions that render the refugee community extremely vulnerable to police harassment and persecution.

As of now, asylum seekers are not exempted from the punitive provisions of the Foreigners Act. They are not provided protection against arbitrary arrest and harassment. There are no domestically enforceable Constitutional or Legal rights for the refugee to fall back on.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Turkey and Pakistan are two countries that have hosted millions of refugees. Pakistan has been hosting Afghan nationals for decades while Turkey has allowed Syrians to seek asylum in the country. Neither country has any coherent legal framework with regards to asylum seekers or refugees. As a result, the refugees remain without any legal protection. Their lives hinge on the uncertainty of unpredictable State policies and political whims.

Despite the lack of local legislation on refugees and asylum seekers, the Courts can play an important role in extending them protection. The text of Article 4 of the Constitution can be used to provide Constitutional protection to the refugees as it states:

“To enjoy the protection of law and to be treated in accordance with law is the inalienable right of every citizen, wherever he may be, and of every other person for the time being within Pakistan. In particular no action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in accordance with law.”

A liberal interpretation of the article can thus be extended to all other fundamental rights such as right to life, liberty, and fair trial, dignity of man, protection of home and privacy and protection against deprivation of property.

The refugees can still claim the right from the Judiciary not to be re-fouled because it accrues to them under customary International Law.

Thankfully, unlike other matters, Pakistani jurisprudence on refugees has been quietly generous. An example is in Najib Zarab Ltd. vs. the Government of Pakistan (PLD 1993 Karachi 93). The Sindh High Court has held that “the Community of Nations requires that rules of international law may be accommodated in the municipal law even without express legislative sanctions. This is provided they do not run into conflict with Acts of Parliament.”

In the case in question, though the decision to deport one of the Turkish staff of Pak-Turk School was made in February 2017, the Sindh High Court suspended the deportation order. The High Courts of Khyber Pakhtun Kha (KPK) , Punjab and Baluchistan have done the same.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the Authorities mentioned below calling them to bring back the Turkish family to Pakistan as they have the certificate of stay in the country from UNHCR. Please Point out that the Pakistani Government must realize that certain customary rules of International Law are so important that no Government should violate them. The obligation not to send the Turkish nationals back stems from fundamental principles of humanity. These must not take a back seat to diplomacy or diplomatic ties.

The Government of Pakistan should introduce changes to the National Law for a better international response to the plight of refugees. The State, on humanitarian grounds, must immediately stop any further deportation of all refugees regardless of their nationality or refugee status.

The responsible Authorities ought to be punished for the detention of a Turkish family. They included the husband, wife and two teen age daughters held in incommunicado for 17 days, tortured and illegally deported without their passports to a country where there is imminent torture for these victims on their return.

The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, calling for his intervention into this matter”.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER