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- Title
UNHCR Operations in Pakistan in the Early 1980s.
- Authors
Walzer, Gerald
- Abstract
The aim of this article is to describe the largest and longest operation carried out by the UNHCR in providing protection and assistance to refugees from April 1979, when the Government of Pakistan requested UNHCR to urgently help deal with the rising influx of Afghan asylum-seekers. This refugee crisis was but one consequence of the engagement of the superpowers in this strategically significant part of the world. The analysis focuses on three main factors: the magnitude of the refugee crisis, the complexity of the logistics, and the nature of the security situation. The challenge facing the Government of Pakistan, as well as the international community, was an enormous one. UNHCR, in addition to its mandated protection role, assumed the overall coordination of the international relief effort, including the mobilization of resources, as well as being responsible for the international procurement of relief supplies, material and equipment. This task was complicated by the security situation and the fact that local population was outnumbered by the refugees with whom it had to share already meagre resources.
- Subjects
PAKISTAN; POLITICAL refugees; RIGHT of asylum; HUMANITARIAN assistance; OFFICE of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- Publication
Refugee Survey Quarterly, 2008, Vol 27, Issue 1, p40
- ISSN
1020-4067
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/rsq/hdn005