Semester End Project

Beggarization: A case study on Afghan Refugees

SS 1003 - Pakistan Studies

18I-0006 M.Tayyab Nawaz

18I-0015 Abdullah Bajwa

18I-0017 Abdul Qadeer Khusro

18I-0135 Zainab Atiq

18I-0176 Arouba Shahzad

Section BA-B

Submitted to Miss Maimoon Rasool

Submitted on 13th December 2021

Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 3
Significance .................................................................................................................................... 5
Methodology .................................................................................................................................. 5
Review of Existing Literature ........................................................................................................... 6
The key driving factor for begging; is it all about food and shelter, or something else? ............................ 9
Q) Is ‘Panah Gah’ Ehsaas Program around the country helping in reducing poverty or encouraging it? A
critical analysis ..............................................................................................................................11
What is Panah Gah? How does it aim to resolve the begging issue? ..................................................11
Poverty and the Encouragement of Begging ...................................................................................12
Q) A critique of the current and previous governments’ on the inability to take actions against the
underground begging mafia. ............................................................................................................14
Previous government begging policies and shortcomings .................................................................14
Current government begging policies and shortcomings ..................................................................14
Underground Begging Mafia ........................................................................................................16
Conclusive effect of government actions taken against begging mafia ...............................................18
Q) How is Pakistan a nightmare for Afghan Refugees and also a home? A detailed account on how the
government indirectly forces Afghanis to beg. ...................................................................................20
Driving Factors for Refugees being forced into the lives of Begging: ........................................21
Pakistan Government and Afghan Refugees. ...........................................................................22
Q) How does Pakistani racism and the demonization of the Afghan refugees contribute to the
begging mafia? ............................................................................................................................23
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................25
Recommendations .......................................................................................................................26
References ..................................................................................................................................27
 Beggarization: A case study on Afghan Refugees.

Introduction

As Pakistan is already fighting a diplomatic war with the world, there are factors that are making it
hollow from the inside, things that Pakistan have to fight from within, out of hundreds of those, the
most important and the most crucial thing that Pakistan is currently fighting is poverty. As the
poverty rate in our country is on the rise, people are forced to fall into an abyss of darkness and the
comfort of earning without doing hard work, the main reason being high employee turnover rate
and many other economic deteriorating factors. All of this collectively adds to the number of
beggars in Pakistan and with having such a large population begging on roads, someone would need
to control them, a ring leader, forming an organization out of these beggars and to maximise their
profits however they can. In this case study, we emphasized upon how these organizations work
and how they exploit and corrupt the innocent people, especially the children as they are an easy
target and most vulnerable. Not only that, we also talked about how these people find their way out
of these treacherous inhuman activities by the indirect help of the government's inability to stop
them.
Questions to be Discussed
Q) The key driving factor for begging; is it all about food and shelter, or
something else?

Q) Is the 'Panah Gah’ Ehsaas Program around the country helping in reducing
poverty or encouraging it? A critical analysis

- What is Panah Gah? How does it aim to resolve the begging issue?
- Poverty and the encouragement of begging

Q) A critique of the current and previous governments’ on the inability to take

actions against the underground begging mafia.

- Previous government begging policies and shortcomings

- Current government begging policies and shortcomings
- Underground begging Mafia
- Conclusive effect of government actions taken against begging mafia

Q) How is Pakistan a nightmare for Afghan Refugees and also a home? A

detailed account on how the government indirectly forces Afghanis to beg.

- Afghanistan government and politics instability and why it creates the refugee
crisis?
- Driving factors for refugees being forced into lives of begging?
- Pakistan Government and Afghan refugees

Q) How does Pakistani racism and the demonization of the Afghan refugees
contribute to the begging mafia?
Significance

In Pakistan, the prevalence and spread of beggarization is an obvious reflection of poor governance.
Beggarization is anticipated to rise and sustain in the long run, based on present trends; criminal
begging groups are getting more complex as they interconnect and integrate with other illicit
operations, and include other organized illegal actions into their activities. This analysis sheds light
on how beggarization anchored its roots so deep in our society that only a definite law system can
bring a noticeable change. This research tells how the refugee crisis contributed to the increment of
this critical nuisance. It is extremely crucial to eradicate this social ill and for that we need to make
our society a place where no one feels insecure about his or her social standing. People mostly
refrain from talking about beggarization in our country as it is considered a shame to discuss and
find out solutions to the occurring problems. We chose this topic in order to get a detailed insight
on how beggarization is increasing in the society, main causes and how to eliminate it from
Pakistan.

Methodology
For a topic that holds such an importance in our society and in relation to our report, we had to resort
to primary and secondary methods of collecting data. Our primary data was collected through
different interviews of beggars and Afghan refugees scattered across the capital, and specific to the
G9/4 area of Islamabad. This enabled us to gain insight as to the motives of begging and how the
Afghan refugee influx has been a catalyst in the growth of these vicious begging mafias. We also
had the opportunity to visit the “Panah Gah” facility located in G9/4. through our visit we gathered
information regarding the scale of operations and how they are making an impact by providing food
and shelter to the ones who need it most. We also planned on visiting the Saylani Welfare, but were
unfortunate to allocate time for an interview with the management body. The sources of secondary
data also proved to be crucial for the compilation of our report. Our secondary data mostly consisted
of government records, research papers, editorials from renowned news websites, articles, journals
and blogs. Every member of the group was tasked with collecting as much data as they could, and
dump it in one place, so that everyone was aware of the information available at hand, which helped
us in extracting the information readily with ease. This report has been compiled with a
commendable amount of thought and effort, keeping in perspective, the importance of this topic in
our society
Review of Existing Literature

The article ‘The Criminals and Victims of Pakistan’s Begging Mafia’, elaborates on the aspect
that, as of today, Pakistan is home to more than 25 million beggars with the amount constantly on
the rise. Furthermore, it also highlights the fact that owing to the poor economic conditions and
lacking even basic necessities to survive, the majority of the population resorts to begging as a source
of income. Moreover, the article also highlights how distinctively men and women portray
themselves appearance wise in order to make an impact on the onlookers and eventually get them to
pass on a certain sum of money to them. The article then extends to the existence of a legitimate
Begging Mafia that exists within Pakistan whereby there is a properly formed network of criminals
that pursue begging as an organised crime where criminal networks force needy people into begging.
The harsh reality of this mafia has also been talked about whereby if a beggar looks too ‘healthy’,
defects and disabilities are forced upon them, this includes a variety of darker aspects that have also
been highlighted in the article and that include not just young male adults but also children and
women. Moreover, there is a legitimate ‘Pyramid Structure’ that the begging industry fully relies on
that includes Children, the Elderly, Third Genders and Women.

The article ‘Shocking Confessions about Begging Mafia’, elaborates and takes into notice a
massive hunt that has been launched by the government against the Begging Mafia in Islamabad,
Pakistan’s Federal Capital. It focuses on the aspect of how a racket that had gone unnoticed for an
extensive period of time, had been working on organised crimes from different areas and localities
of the city. Furthermore, there have been several identified ‘Contractors’ that get paid almost and a
minimum of Rs. 1000 by the beggars on a daily basis and that the police had identified several areas
that these mafias actively operated in. The areas were;
● F-6 and F-5 (including Marriott)
● G Sectors including 5, 6, 7 and F-7
● Faisal Avenue up to Faizabad and from Faizabad to Rawat
● F-8 and F and G Sectors from 9 to 14
● Imam Barri.
The article ‘Five Model Panagahs’ (Shelter Homes) set up in Capital’, talks about the
establishment of Five Model Shelter Homes in the federal capital, Islamabad. The concept of these
Panagahs is basically the provision of obviously as mentioned, shelter, and other standard services
such as breakfast and dinner. Furthermore, the staff that operate within the Panagahs are effectively
trained in terms of responding to the occupants, their food safety, hygiene, overall health and safety.
The article also highlights the relevance of the Panagahs and it is then established that there are
presently 23 Panagahs that are operational throughout Pakistan under the Ehsaas Program by Prime
Minister Imran Khan, each with the capacity to hold 100 occupants. Ultimately, it had also been
established that approximately 210,000 passengers and homeless individuals have benefitted from
these Shelter Homes.

The article ‘Panahgah — where travellers and those without means get to eat, stay and rest
with respect’ discusses in detail regarding the Prime Minister’s initiative and aim to ensure that
there is a proper place and set up that can facilitate needy people, whether it's the homeless or
travelers in need of a resting area, and also to ensure that no one is left stranded in terms of their
belonging and being able to access basic necessities such as food and water. Moreover, it does not
discriminate at any point and claims to welcome all. It is free, safe, clean and perfectly respectable.
It provides a clean living space with basic amenities for three days to those who come to the city
from other places to find work or any purpose whatsoever. It is operational in a way that each
morning, breakfast is served to the occupants after which they depart for their daily errands or chores
and then eventually return for their dinners. The article also highlights the active participation of a
local businessman, Tahir Lone, who has taken upon himself to provide food for the Panagahs and in
order to ensure that the quality is not compromised, he eats at the Panagah daily. The article as a
whole highlights the importance of people who have the ability to help others through their
generosity as the Panagah (Shelter Homes) is pretty much dependent on individuals that voluntarily
assist with basic necessities such as provision of food, water, beds, blankets etc.

The article ‘Afghanistan Refugees’ that is based on an interview that was conducted by Al-Jazeera
that basically looks into the frantic evacuations by the Afghanis and their arrival in Pakistan since
1979 when the Soviet Invasion took place, then later in 2001 when the US invasion took place and
the last draw, which was the US Army’s withdrawal that led to the Taliban taking over the country,
forcing millions of Afghanis to flee to different neighboring countries, majority of them reverting to
Pakistan to seek refuge and save their lives. The essence of the article is basically how since over 1
million Afghani refugees in Pakistan are not even registered, they are deprived of basic necessities
such as shelter, food and water and furthermore, owing to the language barrier that is a major point
of difference amongst the two nations, it becomes more difficult for the refugees to settle in and fend
for themselves.

The article ‘Afghanistan’s Child Beggars’ dives into the subject of poverty-stricken and easily
exploited parents and children being manipulated into the gangs that resort to begging as a source of
income. The woman that is in question talks about how she would make little to none every single
day when she begged alone for hours, however, when she began bringing her grandchildren by
drugging them with sleeping pills every morning and so they lay asleep on the roadside to attract
more attention and sympathy, she earned about eight to ten dollars each day.
The article also establishes the fact that the convenience to use her grandchildren to beg mattered
more than their wellbeing and health and this very fact was established when she was offered help
by a couple but thereby refused it as the monthly sum they offered to assist with was less than the
amount she would earn by drugging her grandsons and making them sleep on the roadside.
Furthermore, another problem that is addressed in the article is that the officials are doing little to
prevent the rapidly growing exploitation of children where the government claims that they are in
fact trying their best to save young children from this trap. There are teams of organised beggars that
are out on the streets on a daily basis and each with a contrasting but heart wrenching sight and story.
The women holding babies, that are apparently asleep but are most probably drugged, on traffic
signals is an extremely common sight that gains sympathy and inturn encourages the process.
The key driving factor for begging; is it all about food and shelter, or something else?

“Money is power, freedom, a cushion, the root of all evil, the sum of blessings”, Carl Sandburg
1936, three time Pulitzer Prize winner

Money, though initially just an instrument of economy, stands for so much more within our society.
It is as Carl Sandburg suggests the power, freedom, and the ability to make your own decisions.
Money or the lack thereof stagnates economies and social standings creating poverty. For some these
socio-economic causes result in only one occupation, the much frowned upon act of beggary.
Begging, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is “to ask somebody for something especially
in an anxious way because you want or need it very much”

Although begging has been illegal within Pakistan since the West Pakistan Vagrancy Ordinance of
1958, around 25 million beggars in Pakistan statistic speaks volumes of the ignorance of said law
and its past abandonment. Begging especially in Pakistan remains steadily growing particularly in
urban cities including Karachi. Lahore and even our capital Islamabad. Despite the best efforts of
academics to highlight the relative real motives of beggars, critical analysis of the phenomenon of
begging within the scope of urban cities and conditions remains in its embryonic state while the
common populace has slowly become more and more appropriating of the practice.

To understand the driving factors behind begging in Pakistan we first need to understand some
statistics.

- 39.3% of the Pakistan population is considered below the poverty line of the world bank
- Pakistan has a 4.4 % unemployment rate
- Pakistan has a current annual inflation rate of 10.94% in 2020 and another 9% in 2021 with
a steady inflation hike for the past 10 years.
- Pakistan has an illiteracy rate of 60% and the number is stagnant

When understanding the case of Pakistan we first determine that 39.3% of the Pakistani population
already fall under dire economic conditions from its cities to its rural areas. With a large
unemployment rate that has only actively accelerated through the course of the pandemic while
keeping in mind the inflation numbers actively existing within the country a vivid picture of causes
starts to get painted. The labor force is actively getting thinned out from work while also being forced
to endure large spikes of inflation especially in day to day items that causes an increasingly large
loop of unemployment as well as deteriorating into poverty and then most likely begging.
Other than the underlying issue of poverty the biggest reason for the never ending cycle comes in
the form of illiteracy and the Pakistan illiteracy rate. A stagnant illiteracy rate of 60% basically
means that out of the population 60% of people don't have the ability to even help themselves out of
the economic positions they find themselves in. Nor do they understand why begging is even
considered a taboo or why we work so hard to eradicate it. In simpler terms, not only is it simpler or
even in cases better to just resort to beggary but it is also encouraged to so many people as the act
of labouring for their pay is either foriegn to them or too difficult to even attempt. Within urban
cities where there exist large concentrations of the wealth within Pakistan beggars thrive as beggars
are often able to extract a much higher amount of cash inflow then would be available for the people
given their experience and knowledge.

The ability of the beggar to elicit public sympathy is at the heart of the enterprise. This is because
gaining greater public notice, and, more significantly, gaining the attention of the correct
sympathiser, can often lead to increased profits. This basically means that at the end of the day if the
means for sympathy exist so do the profit margins for a beggar. Especially when such large chunks
of wealth are deposited within so few of the population within Pakistan.

.
Q) Is ‘Panah Gah’ Ehsaas Program around the country helping in reducing poverty or
encouraging it? A critical analysis

What is Panah Gah? How does it aim to resolve the begging issue?

Beggary is one of the major issues that is escalating in Pakistan. This is a growing serious problem
that is spawning a slew of other social ills such as street crime, robbery, injustice, violence etc.
Begging is the act of imploring someone to donate in a needy manner. According to research,
Pakistan has around twenty-five million beggars. But when we talk about the ways of getting rid of
it there are some initiatives that have been recently taken by the government by making Refugee
centers such as Bait.ul.Mal and Ehsaas program “Panah Gahs”.

Panahgah is a safe haven for the needy and less privileged that offers controlled, rule-based, and
monitored 'Pannah' as an arrangement to daily wagers, unemployed, and homeless people dispersed
across the country. It was established in December, 2018 to make Prime Minister Imran Khan's
ambition of rebuilding the country into a Medina-like state where all inhabitants are treated equally
regardless of religion, caste, race, or socioeconomic background.

The primary goals of establishing this refugee center are to cater to the deserving people and making
sure that they receive immediate assistance, aiding and abetting the under-served labor force,
providing the deprived with the basic essentials of life such as good food and shelter and protection
against severe weather conditions.

According to the clauses (a) (d) and (i) which are stated in sub section 4 of Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal
Act (PBM), 1991 section 3, PBM funds should be used

a) To provide financial assistance to destitute and needy widows, orphans, invalid,

infirm and other needy persons

d) To provide residential accommodation and necessary facilities to the persons

specified in clause (a)

i) Any other purpose approved by Bait-ul-Mal Board related to the aims and objects
of the Bait.ul.Mal
Panahgah will serve the society's underprivileged segments by providing them with temporary
shelters as well as two meals per day. As a result, deserving people who come to urban cities in
search of employment, education, health care, and other services will be able to receive free
temporary housing and facilities. The maximum period of stay shall be three days, extendable for
another week at the beneficiary's need and request.

Poverty and the Encouragement of Begging

As was anticipated from the readings provided above, Poverty is one of the major reasons as to why
Begging is escalating so rapidly in the country. According to a report from ‘World Bank, about
39.2% of the population lives below the National Poverty Line as of today (2021). And in
comparison to the year 2015, the percentage has risen by 15.2% in terms of the amount of population
that falls below the national poverty line. It is rather evident how Poverty at this point may be majorly
contributing to Begging. However, with that being said, on the surface it may seem like a fight for
just the basic necessities such as food or water, but there are an abundance of underlying factors that
have now begun to escalate and led to dangerous issues such as street crimes, theft and robbery.
Moreover, it is rather crucial to note that even though Poverty may be the main cause of actions such
as begging, theft or robbery, there have been other notable aspects to it. For instance, in Pakistan, it
is common for us to see beggars in the form of healthy children or young adults, both men and
women, who depend on begging instead of actively searching for a job or learning a skill that could
help them in earning a living.

According to a study based in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria, that scrutinized the issue of
street begging and its psychological impacts and identified the development of inferiority complex,
loss of self respect, increased mindset of poverty and loss of self-confidence as the crucial and
underlying issues behind the broadening and strengthening of this mindset. Having said that, it
becomes a lot easier to link these mentioned issues to the fact that we often see young adults and
children, both men and women, relying on begging more often than not, instead of working as it is
in fact an easy way out.

It is especially common for us to see children roaming around in the streets or on traffic signals
between the age bracket of seven to 12 years and they would continue to pursue and pester
individuals until they have been given a certain amount of money. With that being said, most of the
time people would refrain from offering any sort of money as they would feel that this encourages
an idle lifestyle which is in the long run, harmful for the children. However, there are also people
that may find it extremely difficult to refrain from giving out money to these children. It could be
due to the endless pestering or just general generosity, either way, it paves the way for the concept
of not doing any sort of hard labor but still earning money which also encourages those around these
children, making them feel that they could make use of this art as well. This is in turn creating a
class of society that is dependable on someone else’s hard earned money.

Nevertheless, the prevailing situation and condition of Poverty in Pakistan is a major contributing
factor that encourages begging as well as the other mentioned crimes such as theft and robbery etc.
There is another contributing factor and that is the rising illiteracy rate in Pakistan. Illiteracy
inevitably gives rise to the need for begging or resorting to ways such as theft or robbery as lack of
basic education would not allow the certain population of people to acquire decent jobs.

The rising percentage of beggars in Pakistan is a clear sign that there is a rising percentage of people
that believe that there is an easy way out without feeling that there is ultimately any need to perform
any laborious tasks to earn money.
Q) A critique of the current and previous governments’ on the inability to
take actions against the underground begging mafia.

Previous government begging policies and shortcomings

Current government begging policies and shortcomings

There are a couple of factors which prompt people to opt for begging and upon which our current
and previous governments have failed numerous times, which include poverty, unemployment,
under-employment and loss of income. However, this may also include a couple of other social and
psychological factors which may include hereditary occupation, family disorganization,
widowhood and sometimes due to some psychological issues, unwillingness to work and having
the tendency to go towards isolation may also contribute to the factors adding to the beggarization.
Putting all these above-mentioned factors on one side, we can still be adamant to say that, if the
government puts good amount of time and genuine effort into this matter, not only this matter would
be resolved but the country would be on a path to advance towards stabilization with more educated
people and less poverty ratio. Nevertheless, if one is not too optimistic, one may say that poverty
could be reduced to a bare minimum level.

Furthermore, moving on towards the exploitation of beggars and our governments’ effort to
mitigate those issues:

“When the police arrest beggars, beggar masters pay bribes”

As we know, the law in almost every sector of Pakistan is largely abandoned. As per the Punjab
Vagrancy Ordinance, 1958 which is “An ordinance to amend and consolidate the law relating to
vagrancy in the Province of Punjab” there were couple of things that were reformed, which included
Welfare Homes; their managers, voluntary admission to welfare homes and power of police to arrest
and search vagrants and seize things liable to confiscation and sentence for vagrancy. Now this act
was formulated just for the province of Punjab, however, later onwards the Vagrancy act was
implemented in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh as well. That being said, we as a nation can
witness how these acts were abandoned and there were no actions taken upon this particular issue.
 Oftentimes in this country we see that if someone ever raises their voice on this matter, our
government can not in all sanity defend themselves on whatever the majestic actions that they took
on this matter. Actions are not meant to be just another verbal clause, actions require
implementation. In our past governments, we saw how each political party frowned upon
beggarization and then after forming the government, they totally ignored this issue. An issue that
involves roughly 25 Million people has always been ignored by the authorities. Well of course
ignorance is bliss, but it is also a cause of suffering for the mass. It is not hidden that our previous
governments were corrupted enough that they even gained extortion from the beggar masters just
for the sake of a little extra earning, totally being ignorant towards the people that are being used
for the said means. All our governments have done to discourage the begging mafia is added some
street signs on major signals, and that too only in the capital of the country while the rest of the
cities are ignored profoundly. All this has been of help is creating awareness among the people who
are probably more educated than the ones sitting in the houses of parliament.

Now the question arises over here is that how can this issue rather be addressed? To answer this
question, we believe that instead of creating some awareness that already persists in society, why
not work on cutting the roots of a strong tree rather than cutting its branches. It totally makes sense,
right, that, instead of putting all the effort and energy on decapitating a gigantic tree all to witness it
growing back up later on, why not work on cutting the roots so it does not ever grow back up.
Governments always work upon catching the individuals working up front, what they must do is
track them to lead them towards the ring leader/beggar master. These ring leaders are the cause of
the issue that persists in our country, exploiting innocent children, handicapping grown up
individuals after abducting them and forcibly making them join the beggary business. Stopping the
ring leaders will not only help in reducing the number of beggars but will also help in reducing the
number of kidnappings and other crimes such as human trafficking and drug abuse that go hand in
hand with beggars. Most of the beggars just join the ring to feed their dependability of drugs and to
be protected by the cruelties of police and their extortions while they practice the act of beggary.
Underground Begging Mafia
In the recent decades there is an ever rising increase in beggars as it seems to be a very
lucrative job through which these beggars can earn more than the minimum wage they might
get if they go through the proper channels of finding a job, considering their level of
education. Some individuals have exploited this opportunity and developed it into an
organized crime. This organized crime in our society remains under the shadow, slowly
working, and deteriorating the society at a very base level. Research indicates that underaged
kids, transgenders and other poverty-stricken beggars find themselves trapped and exploited
at the hands of these begging mafias. An investigative show, which airs on ARY News
Channel by the name of ,”Sar e Aam” hosted by Iqrar Ul Hassan, conducted a social
experiment and made a report on the begging mafia in Karachi City. In this episode, he
disguised himself as a beggar, and when he started begging on one of the busiest streets of
karachi, he got confronted and bullied by other beggars telling him “to find some other area
as this is their area”. It was found that the beggars of the mafia reported to a contractor of
sorts (a.k.a Thekedar), who controls the area, and collects a commission from the beggars.
Unless these beggars do not report back with the commission, they cannot beg in the area.

The above insight into the underground pressures including urbanization , refugee and
internally displaced populations and a surge in youth population. These vulnerable
individuals are left at the mercy of these mafias in hopes that they might get some monetary
gain. The degree to which these are exploited depends on the level of vulnerability. These
organizations have evolved and matured over time, progressing up the levels of
organizational maturity as introduced by Gottschalk in his “International journal of Law,
Crime and Justice”. Through our analysis, begging mafia’s lie under the level 3 maturity as
these organizations have a strategy in mind and there is a clear hierarchy in place.

Criminal organizations can be classified according to their level of maturity:

 1) Level 1 - Activity Based Criminal Organizations -
● Rule Based
2) Level 2 - Knowledge Based Criminal Organizations
● Specialization, Institutional Knowledge development
3) Level 3 - Strategy Based Criminal Organizations
● Power Hierarchy, Organizational goals
4) Level 4 - Value Based Criminal Organizations
● Charismatic leadership, shared vision and values.

The dilemma here is not that these impoverished people beg, rather it is their method of
begging which is questionable. In an organized fashion, they have a criminal intent to defraud
the donor and maximize their own profits by gaining emotional sympathy from donors to
pay up. There are two main reasons that drive this industry of begging: “shock value” and
the “religious connotations of assistance”. Here the term “beggarization” is coined, using
the two words; beggars & organization, since its an organization of beggars. The beggars in
this organization could be classified into either two groups based on their intent of being in
this “organization”, which are ;

1) Voluntary Beggarization - individuals not coerced into begging, and are free to join or
leave the organization

2) Involuntary Beggarization - individuals are enslaved and exploited through threats,

disfiguration or other vicious means.

The most important thing to understand here is that, due to Pakistan having a 39.2% below
the line poverty rate as stated by the World Bank, parents or guardians of lower-middle
income families (earning less or equal to $3.2/Day or Rs 5000-7000) are forced to sell or
rent their children to third parties, who in turn prey on the economic vulnerabilities of these
families. At the end of the day, the young children who ought to be gaining education, end
up getting cheated at the hands of their own parents and third parties. And not only children
are exploited in this unfortunate tragedy, but other individuals below the poverty line also
find themselves in this circle at some point. The real sorrowful part of this picture is when
one gets to know, that the “contractors'' or as earlier mentioned “Thekedar'' provide shelter
to these beggars in exchange for PKR 1000 daily, and every Thekedar may have 25-35
beggars working for them, according to DIG (operations) Waqar Uddin Syed. These
individuals are getting exploited and will continue being exploited at the hands of Thekedar
until and unless the government steps in and initiates major changes that protect and facilitate
these individuals who have nowhere to go.

Conclusive effect of government actions taken against begging mafia

Unfortunately enough, the topic in consideration has been working under the shadows,
reaping its effects at the micro level for decades now and neglected at a mass level by our
esteemed government agencies. The act of the rich or the powerful preying on the poor and
weak, is not uncommon in other countries of South Asia, however in those nations there are
laws and regulations in check which prevent or reduce such atrocities to prevail in their
society. Sadly we do not see any strict measures taken by the Government to control this evil
until recently, when some consciousness has arisen in the government servants of this nation.
What is surprising here is that begging is illegal in Pakistan according to the West Pakistan
Loitering Ordinance 1958 and both the beggars and guardians who force children into
begging could face jail time of upto 2-3 years or fines of PKR 30k -50k, but that remains
largely unforced. The Office of Child Welfare and Protection in 2018 claims that it has
provided for 39,270 poor and neglected children in six years. But nonetheless, the children
who end up begging on the streets, or the “professional beggars'' are rising every passing
day. Research of the Asian Human Rights Commision (AHRC) estimates that there are 1.2
million children on the streets of major cities and the urban center of Pakistan, and this
number only quantifies the children who beg, as disabled or claim to be diabled individuals
also begging are left uncounted.
Through our research we learned that in December 2020, a two member bench of the Sindh
High Court which consisted of Justice Mazhar & Justice Arsha Hussain, gave orders of
taking strong large scale measures against the mafia which forces street children into
beggary. The most astonishing piece of information we came across with, is that along the
chain of commands in law enforcement and regulatory bodies, most top officials (not all)
tend to beat around the bush when asked about the begging mafia. It is a practice to dodge
these questions by hiding behind the efforts of preventing street children from getting
involved in beggary. For example this particular case has been going on for the past five
years, and all South District SSP could comment on this was “steps are being taken to prevent
street children from begging”. Justice Mazhar demanded what efforts have been made to find
the details of the mafia running the system, has anyone been arrested, if so, how many have
been nabbed and punished. A question here arises that what is the government and the society
doing on a collective level to discourage begging mafias. And the answer to this has left us
ashamed in front of the world. A beacon of hope has arisen after a Bill was presented in the
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, which is the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Vagrancy Restraint Act.
This act aims to form institutes by the name of “Dar-ul’Kifala” which will provide shelter
for the extremely needy bunch. There might be laws that exist to protect these beggars, but
there is no implementation of it and aren't followed through, which is the main reason why
law(s) passed do not bear any effect and no result can be observed.
Q) How is Pakistan a nightmare for Afghan Refugees and also a home? A
detailed account on how the government indirectly forces Afghanis to beg.
Afghanistan government and politics instability and why it creates the refugee crisis?

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 the United States invaded Afghanistan, resulting
in a large influx of refugees. A while back, the swift US withdrawal from the region and the Taliban
takeover that followed, have resulted in a new flood of refugees. Afghan refugees have been
displaced for almost four decades, which made them one of the world's most persistent humanitarian
crises. Approximately 6 million Afghans have been left homeless. 3.5 million are internally
displaced in Afghanistan, while 2.6 million are Afghan refugees in other countries. The Remaining
people went back to Afghanistan and are receiving assistance from the UNHCR.

Armed Conflict is one political reason for refugees to flee their home country. Armed Conflicts, like
the one in Afghanistan among NATO forces and the Taliban, instills fear amongst people to be afraid
for their existence and flee to a safer country. Ethnic or religious oppression is another reason for
refugees to flee their home countries. Persecution on religious or ethnic lines, such as the Arab
government of Sudan's persecution of non-Arabs in Darfur, has forced thousands of people to move
to another country.There are probably 26 million asylum seekers all over the world. The statistics
astound many people, who perceive cross-border migration as a global catastrophe. It is hardly a
numerical crisis. It is not the people that are the problem. The problem is the circumstances that lead
families and individuals to cross state lines, as well as governments' myopic and unrealistic
responses.

The political instability of Afghanistan massively contributed to the refugee crisis. The intense
relations of Afghanistan with the countries all over the world resulted in a massive backlash for
example, As per official EU statistics, the amount of Afghans repatriated to Afghanistan by EU
states steadily increased between 2015-16, from 3,290 to 9,460. The figures reflect a significant drop
in asylum application acceptance, from 68 percent in September 2015 to 33 percent in December
2016. Child refugees, young adults who were toddlers when they immigrated in Europe, and persons
who had never lived in Afghanistan previously were among those forcefully returned. Those who
were harmed, attempted suicide, were killed in bomb strikes, or were forced to live in constant terror
were among those who returned. Governments, far from being unaware of the perilous situation in
Afghanistan, acknowledged it when the European Union (EU) approved the "Joint Way Forward,"
a deal to return Afghan asylum seekers. EU authorities noted the rapidly deteriorating situation in
the region and hazards to which civilians are exposed" in Afghanistan, and also record numbers of
terrorist assaults and civilian casualties" in a leaked dossier. They blithely asserted, however, that
more than 80,000 people may need to be recalled in the coming years."This "demand" was allegedly
voiced through pressure on the Afghan government, according to convincing evidence. "If
Afghanistan does not work with EU countries on the refugee problem, this will have a detrimental
influence on the amount of money granted to Afghanistan, Afghanistan's Finance Minister Ekil
Hakimi told parliament.

Driving Factors for Refugees being forced into the lives of Begging:
Over the last 40 years, Pakistan has hosted over 1.4 million Afghan Refugees that were officially
registered while an estimated 1 million refugees are unregistered. These known statistics also make
Pakistan the third largest host country in the world to be holding and hosting refugees. The idea of
Afghanis taking refuge in Pakistan initially was a warmly welcomed idea by the government,
however, with the situation worsening over the last few decades, especially the biggest blow in the
form of the U.S withdrawing control over Afghanistan and with the Taliban taking over, lead to
more frantic escapes from there to Pakistan, which has inevitably put pressure on Pakistan as well
in terms of the provision of shelter, jobs and the overall labor market. And although Pakistan’s
government formally insists that it is rather unprepared for this many refugees, it still attempts to
manage at its best. However, this management is a privilege that not many Afghan Refugees may
have, especially here in Pakistan where almost 39.2% of the population live below the national
poverty line and with the growing economic crises. With the rising number of refugees in Pakistan,
they have little to no options for coping with their situation and since approximately 1 million of the
Afghan refugees are not even registered, they are mostly unable to enjoy the luxury of social
protection.

Coming back to the crucial aspect of a significant percentage of the Pakistani population living below
the national poverty line, it is a major reason as to why the Afghan refugees presently residing in
Pakistan have resorted to begging, the reason being, that since the economic concerns have been on
the rise, it is a question of concern that if the government of Pakistan is unable to provide jobs for
its own people, how will it lift the load of an abundance of refugees.

Furthermore, resorting to begging for Afghan refugees also has become an easier approach due to
the possible language barrier that there is and the inability to communicate properly but the need to
fend for themselves eventually leads to desperate measures such as begging.

The degree of difference between the Pakistani population and the Afghan refugees such as the
language barrier, low skills base and lack of information are all contributing factors that negatively
impact their economic survival. Moreover, many families that have approximately 8-10 people per
household to fend for, push young children into the practice of begging on the streets as most of
them are just entirely unable to find work owing to the differences and difficulties mentioned above.

Pakistan Government and Afghan Refugees.

Pakistan is home to roughly 3.5 Million refugees which crossed the durand line when the Soviet
invaded Afghanistan. Out of 3.5 Million about 1.4 Million refugees are registered. Most of these
people are those who are second or third generation born in Pakistan and instead of giving these
people a dark green passport and a national identity card, the government refrains them to have full
citizenship and from availing the luxuries of being a Pakistani national. Instead, the government of
Pakistan has allotted them a Proof of Registration (PoR) card, which we believe is pure humiliation
of human rights as the children that are born on Pakistani soil deserve to be called and be known as
Pakistani citizens. It was not their fault that their forefathers were displaced during Soviet Invasion,
and that they had to end up in Pakistan and yet avail partial liberty as being a second citizen. They
are as much Pakistani as any other citizen and they deserve more than a PoR card, which we believe
has just been a political bargaining chip for decades.

Emphasizing upon our point of view, regardless of PoR cards Afghans are adding to the population
of Pakistan, and in a country with an already persisting economic crisis a whole sect of unemployed
men and women just adds a negative impact on the economic development and raises the poverty
rate. That being said, if these people are given full citizenship and are allowed to work as they shall,
in job markets as they wish for and live in places as they want to, like a free citizen, it would surely
add to the economic development and reduce the poverty rate significantly, which may further lead
on to less beggars, especially in the capital of Pakistan where the majority of the Afghan refugees
reside in ‘Kachi Bastis’ around the city.

Q) How does Pakistani racism and the demonization of the Afghan

refugees contribute to the begging mafia?
Pakistan's main legislation for regulating foreigners on their land is the Foreigners Act of 1946,
which deals with foreigners' entry into Pakistan. Any expatriate coming to Pakistan without legal
travel documentation may be denied entrance due to a change in the Foreigner's Order of 1951 in
2000. Despite the fact that the Order makes a distinction on the ground between migrants and other
foreign nationals, there is no provision for refugees.in addition to this, the Foreigner's Order allows
authorities to ban foreigners' mobility and living arrangements across Pakistan while neglecting their
capture and imprisonment . Unless otherwise determined, all immigrants in Pakistan are termed
illegal outsiders. Unless they have the necessary valid identification papers, they may be detained
by government municipalities. On plea by the UNHCR as well as the Ministry of SAFRON, the
number of cases involving refugees are dismissed (States and Frontier Regions). Illicit migrants who
are waiting to be resettled in their native country are granted refugee status by the UNHCR. The
recent survey of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan, which was conducted in 2005, and the issuance
of approximately 2.16 million Proof of Registration cards (POR) to Afghan refugees enlisted from
that point, resulted in the long-awaited official approval of these refugees, allowing them to remain
in Pakistan legally until September 2018. All Afghans over the age of five who do not have a POR
are considered illegal entities. The Government of Pakistan has ratified a number of international
treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the
International Covenant on social, economic and cultural rights, all of which were signed in 1990's
and 2004. In any other case, all refugees in Pakistan are treated as unauthorized immigrants,
regardless of their age or gender. Because of their uncertain status, some of them develop an unstable
presence, and as a result, they are frequently subjected to incitement from different national
authorities, extortion, and the possible danger of detainment or expulsion. Vulnerable individuals in
a community, such as women and children, bear a disproportionate burden of these abuses. In
Pakistan, the Interior Ministry is in charge of refugees' affairs, which includes, among other things,
Because of geopolitics, Pakistan's relationship with Afghan refugees has worsened. Native populace
have created a negative outlook toward refugees as a result of a lack of international importance and
financial support. Regardless of the fact that the Soviet forces left Afghanistan , the underlying
tensions that resulted in the Taliban's takeover in 1996 continued driving refugees to Pakistan. The
Taliban emerged in 1994 as an islamic Extremist movement led by Afghan refugees who were
students at Pakistani madrasas. Throughout their stay in refugee camps, the group was lectured on
Deobandism, an extreme fundamentalist perception of Islam, by religious zealots from Pakistani
madrasahs. Many madrasas were built in Pakistan's tribal areas surrounding Afghanistan during the
war. These schools offer refugees and Pakistanis with free education, shelter, and food, as well as
combat training, laying their visa policy and registration of their credentials.

Antipathy toward Afghans in Pakistan is not new concept, but it spiked after the so-called Pakistani
Taliban, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, attacked the Army Public School in Peshawar, massacring 145
people, together with 132 children, on December 16, 2014. Pakistani police have raided Afghan
colonies since then beating and harassing Afghan men, extorting bribes, and demolishing Afghan
homes. Every Afghan returned to Afghanistan who was interviewed by Human Rights Watch said
they did so because they were afraid of the police. Afghans who have remained in Pakistan have
described a trend of arbitrary arrests, exploitation, and harassment. Afghans, both documented and
undocumented, have been abused by Pakistani police.

The racism faced by afghanis is not just affecting them in one way but has an impact on their overall
existence in the society. Unemployment, under-employment and small income drags them to a point
where they no longer have an option other than indulging in false ways to earn in order to make the
both ends meet. This is one of the major contributing factors in increasing the beggarization rate.
Conclusion
Beggarization is an evil that attracts the worst and corrupts the best, and thus, there is an
immense need by the government to tackle this issue that has been crumbling the economy
of Pakistan, especially during the last couple of years, in which we as individuals have
witnessed an increase in the number of the beggars and how most of them are either children
or young adults. This case study also sheds light upon the questionable policies and empty
endeavors by the government towards the Afghan refugees and how they are unable to
survive respectfully in this country, and how that is further leading on towards near to less
contribution to the economy. Moreover, we suggested how this issue can be resolved and
how the government could perform better in tackling this issue. We also shed light upon the
areas of failure of the government and policies that could have been made better or can be
edited. We believe that if all the government institutions are washed off of black sheeps and
corrupt individuals, it can perform well in not only other sectors, but also in eliminating these
organised crimes which are having a negative effect on our lower-class young generation
and refugees from Afghanistan.
Recommendations
After a thorough analysis of the case study the following recommendations are hereby
made:

● Individuals who actually have skills, regardless of nationality, shall not be left out and
be positioned as second options in job sectors.
● We believe that the police should have the power and liberty to punish the
beggarization mafia, and there shall be someone supervising the police department,
in case there are any black sheeps.
● Children must be given their rights and it shall be guaranteed strictly by the state.
Moreover, an institutional mechanism for child protection issues be established.
● The beggarization shall be frowned upon from the public as well.
● There shall be proper funding to deal with the vagrancy, adulation, and exploitation
caused by begging.

We need to formulate serious plannings and formulate different policies in order to fight this
organised crime i.e., Beggarization. It needs to be eliminated from the roots of our society
that has already so much to deal with as people are exploited into being more dependable
unto others. In an already deteriorating economy, we can not afford increasing numbers of
beggars.
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