Sandwiched Community
The Bengali community in Pakistan is a hard-working lot. They have mostly lived in Karachi ever since they took refuge in the city after 1971 but most of them have never been accepted as citizens of Pakistan and continue to lead uncertain existences.
Saima, a Bengali middle-aged woman, works in Karachi as a maid in three different houses everyday along with her three young children. From every house she gets around 5000 to 6000 rupees monthly – enough to put food on the table and afford some basic necessities. Her children accompany her to work because they are unable to go to school as, despite being physically existent, they don’t officially exist in Pakistan. Why? Because they don’t have B forms which means they are not registered with NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority) as even their parents don’t possess CNICs (Computerised National Identity Cards).
Living an undocumented life is not as simple as it may seem. Saima's children will fail to acquire higher education or white collar jobs when they grow up because of this undocumentation. It will not only have an impact on their social status, but their physical and mental health will also be at stake. After all, what could be worse be for a person living in this digital age without a legal identity?!
More sadly, this is not just the story of Saima and her family as about 3 million Bengalis strewn around 200 settlements across Pakistan have similar stories. From cleaning houses to peeling heaps of shrimps everyday in a hutment, these women and children are compelled to do odd as well as low-wage work. They, however, could have avoided doing such work, if their husbands and fathers had been earning well. When they could, they would go out to sea to catch fish and earn some money by selling it. But now that the CNICs are being checked strictly by the maritime officials, their husbands and/or fathers do not venture out to sea, fearing arrest for being Bangladeshis living illegally in Karachi.
Even though these Bengalis have been living in Pakistan for more than 4 decades now, they still don't have a national identity card. They consider themselves Pakistanis in every way, for the Government of Pakistan they are still Bangladeshis because they fail to provide proof – any proof that meets the criteria laid down by the Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951.
When identity cards were made manually, a large number of Bengalis were able to get Pakistani identity documents, either legally or illegally. Almost all of them successfully transferred those cards into CNICs in the early 2000s. But the Government of Pakistan rejected the applications for the renewal of CNICs of many Bengalis to separate Pakistani Bengalis from illegal immigrants.
“I was born in Karachi, but still getting a CNIC was a real struggle for me. There was a point in my life when I was all set to flee illegally to Turkey along with several other Bengali migrants, ignoring the risks attached," says Shahid Shah, a young Bengali activist.
According to another Bengali migrant who wishes to remain anonymous, the police here is a major problem for them as they extort money and those who are unable to pay them are tormented and kept in illegal confinement. "We cannot even hide our origin as we look and sound very different from the rest of the Pakistanis," Shahid points out.
The government of Pakistan, however, did make an effort in 2001 to legally register and document immigrants and other foreign residents in the country by establishing a government database, NARA (National Alien Registration Authority), but a large number of Bengalis - the so-called aliens in Pakistan - were reluctant to register themselves with NARA as they feared that after registration they would be deported to their country of origin. Hence, the whole exercise was futile and NARA was merged with NADRA.
To further intensify their problems, even the home country is not willing to welcome them.
To further intensify their problems, even their home country is not willing to welcome them. Some of the Bengali immigrants travelling on Pakistani passports have been denied visas to enter their home country because they are considered supporters of the Bangladeshi opposition party that is pro-Pakistan.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Bengalis are a traumatized and petrified community in Pakistan. If one puts the spotlight on the mental health of this community, there is no insightful data regarding their health and wellbeing (physical, social, mental). There is no published study on the internet that tells us about the current status of wellbeing of these migrants. No one ever talks about how their mental health, including their self-esteem and social and emotional wellbeing, is taking a toll due to the hardships and unfairness they face every day.
Even after 48 years, these migrants have been waiting for the Pakistan government to reconsider its policies on migrants and refugees. Their minds are flooded with qualms and uncertainty and they question themselves: will we ever get a Pakistani identity? Will we ever get the status we deserve? What future do our next generations have here in Pakistan? Are they, too, going to be born as aliens?
Let’s hope the answers to these questions will soon be responded to in the affirmative.
The writer is a journalist and sociologist with a passion for fiction writing. She is also a social media blogger covering human rights and mental health issues and can be reached at |
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I hope government will take some good steps to resolve these issues.
This article is a real eye opener for me. While we are currently inundated with narratives, some true and some fabricated, about Bangladeshi refugees in India, the fact that there are 3 million Bangladeshis living in Pakistan without proper documentation is astonishing, to say the least. Their living situation, essentially in limbo, with no hope for their future or their future generations, is truly heartbreaking.
Really good article and heart breaking. I hope and pray that Pakistani government really thinks seriously about them and gives them the rights they deserve.