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Country analysis

Pakistan


Pakistan’s economy is facing severe challenges in the form of debt, increased inflation, political instability, catastrophic floods, and militant attacks.

The 2022 monsoon floods affected 33 million people, leaving 20.6 million in need of humanitarian assistance and resulting in substantial losses of livestock and crop yields. As at November 2023, over 1.5 million people were still displaced. 11.8 million people were acutely food-insecure in the flood-affected districts, while 2.14 million children were acutely malnourished and in need of urgent treatment. The 2023 monsoon season further hampered recovery from these floods, bringing heavy rains and flooding that displaced nearly 400,000.

Since 2020, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have been facing escalating militant attacks. The Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended a ceasefire in late 2022, leading to a surge in attacks. In 2023, militant attacks increased by 69% compared to 2022.

Pakistan hosts 3.2 million Afghan refugees, who face challenges that include deportation, limited economic opportunities, and barriers to service access, including healthcare and education. Geopolitical tensions rose between Afghanistan and Pakistan after Pakistan accused Afghanistan of harbouring the TTP. Subsequently, in September 2023, Pakistan launched the Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan to expel all undocumented Afghan refugees. Since then, over 500,000 Afghans have returned from Pakistan.

(OCHA 18/12/2023, IPC 19/10/2023, ECHO 04/09/2023, UNHCR 22/01/2024, PICSS 2023)

Pakistan’s economy is facing severe challenges in the form of debt, increased inflation, political instability, catastrophic floods, and militant attacks.

The 2022 monsoon floods affected 33 million people, leaving 20.6 million in need of humanitarian assistance and resulting in substantial losses of livestock and crop yields. As at November 2023, over 1.5 million people were still displaced. 11.8 million people were acutely food-insecure in the flood-affected districts, while 2.14 million children were acutely malnourished and in need of urgent treatment. The 2023 monsoon season further hampered recovery from these floods, bringing heavy rains and flooding that displaced nearly 400,000.

Since 2020, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have been facing escalating militant attacks. The Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended a ceasefire in late 2022, leading to a surge in attacks. In 2023, militant attacks increased by 69% compared to 2022.

Pakistan hosts 3.2 million Afghan refugees, who face challenges that include deportation, limited economic opportunities, and barriers to service access, including healthcare and education. Geopolitical tensions rose between Afghanistan and Pakistan after Pakistan accused Afghanistan of harbouring the TTP. Subsequently, in September 2023, Pakistan launched the Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan to expel all undocumented Afghan refugees. Since then, over 500,000 Afghans have returned from Pakistan.

(OCHA 18/12/2023, IPC 19/10/2023, ECHO 04/09/2023, UNHCR 22/01/2024, PICSS 2023)

Latest updates on country situation

13 March 2024

Since 26 February 2024, heavy snowfall and rain have been causing floods, landslides, and destruction in northern and western Pakistan. As at 5 March, 40 people died and 62 were injured. The adverse weather conditions led to the destruction of 80 houses and damage to 554. As at 12 March, nine people died and 3,200 houses were damaged in Balochistan. Thousands of people have been displaced, but numbers are yet to be confirmed by official sources. The national and provincial governments are providing food, tents, and cash in the affected areas. Persistent snowfall and rainfall have resulted in the blockade of key highways, roads, and bridges in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, causing access constraints. The adverse weather has also caused internet outages, which are likely hampering the flow of information from the affected regions. Pakistan has not yet recovered from the 2022 flood that left 20.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, with 1.5 million people still displaced in flood-affected districts. (ECHO 06/03/2024, RFERL 05/03/2024, Samaa TV 13/03/2024)

09 October 2023

In Pakistan, 2.14 million children are facing acute malnutrition, a more than 40% increase since 2022. Acute malnutrition is an enduring issue in the country, particularly in Sindh and Balochistan provinces, where high rates prevail. The economic crisis and the impact of the 2022 floods have reduced access to food, healthcare, and livelihoods, aggravating the nutrition crisis. (IPC 09/10/2023, WFP 29/09/2023, UNICEF 10/08/2023)

03 October 2023

Pakistan has issued a directive for more than a million undocumented Afghan refugees to leave voluntarily by 1 November 2023, warning of deportation through law enforcement or federal government institutions if they do not comply. Pakistan has also tightened entry rules for Afghans, requiring valid visas and passports. Since October, over 800 Afghans, including some with legal status, have been detained in Pakistan. These refugees are already facing challenges in renewing their documents. The new directive raises concerns about further hardships and vulnerabilities for them. (BBC 04/10/2023, AP 03/10/2023, VOA 02/10/2023)

19 September 2023

Afghan refugees in Pakistan are facing increased protection concerns, mainly because of a lack of legal documentation. In mid-September 2023, the caretaker government in Pakistan announced working on a new policy that would send back all Afghans in an irregular status in Pakistan back to Afghanistan. Since that announcement, there has been an increase in the arrest of Afghan refugees. Over 500 Afghans have been arrested, including women and children, despite some holding required documentation. The proof of registration cards that Afghan refugees were provided as a legal document in Pakistan expired in June 2023. Since then, renewal has been difficult for most given bureaucratic hurdles. Without legal documentation, refugees face arrest, torture, and deportation, and they cannot access essential services, such as healthcare, education, or employment. Between January–August 2023, 747,000 Afghans voluntary or forcibly returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan, higher than 548,000 during the same period in 2022.
(DAWN 19/09/2023, TOLOnews 16/09/2023, OCHA 06/09/2023)

07 August 2023

Since mid-June 2023, heavy rainfall and flash floods have caused destruction across Pakistan, leading to 196 deaths and 283 injuries. The worst affected province is Balochistan, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab, Azad Jammu, and Kashmir. As at 5 August, over 3,700 houses had been damaged, displacing more than 29,000 people from the flood-affected districts. In Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, emergency has been declared until 15 August. Heavy rainfall has destroyed roads and bridges in some areas, leaving the affected population without access to water, food, and medical supplies. The urgent needs of displaced people are food, shelter, clean water, medical supplies, and NFIs. According to preliminary analysis by UNOSAT based on the amount of rainfall between 26–30 July, ten million people are potentially exposed or residing near the flood-affected regions. (OCHA 08/08/2023, UNOSAT 07/08/2023, NDMA 05/08/2023)

16 May 2023

Pakistan is grappling with a severe food security crisis marked by a shortage of wheat and soaring food prices. This crisis is affecting low-income communities and flood-affected areas, where 14.6 million people require emergency food assistance. In 15 flood-affected districts, a recent survey found that one-third of children under two years old suffer from moderate acute malnutrition and 14% from severe acute malnutrition. With more than 4.4 million acres of agricultural land destroyed in the 2022 flood, wheat and rice production will be lower in 2023. Food price inflation continues to increase, reaching 48% in April. Several factors contribute to food scarcity, including adverse weather conditions, the macroeconomic crisis, political unrest, bureaucratic challenges, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The scarcity of food has resulted in social unrest and violence. The country's lower foreign reserves make it difficult to meet the increasing demand through imports. (WFP 10/05/2023, FSIN et al. 03/05/2023, CNBC 06/04/2023)

21 March 2023

As at March 21, more than six months after devastating floods hit Pakistan, 6.3 million people were still in need of WASH assistance, including safe drinking water. The flooding damaged most of the water systems in the affected areas, leaving over 5.4 million people, including 2.5 million children, relying solely on contaminated water.


Even before the floods, only 36% of the water in the country was considered safe for consumption. The prolonged lack of safe drinking water and sanitation, along with the continued proximity of flood-affected and flood-displaced families to bodies of stagnant water, is contributing to widespread outbreaks of waterborne diseases, such as cholera, diarrhoea, dengue, and malaria.


The lack of safe water and sanitation is also contributing to malnutrition, with over 1.5 million boys and girls already severely malnourished. The practice of open defecation has also increased by more than 14% in the flood-affected regions, disproportionately affecting children, adolescent girls, and women who are at added risk of shame and harm.
(WASH Cluster accessed 29/03/2023, UN 21/03/2023, UNICEF accessed 28/03/2023, Al Jazeera 21/03/2023, PD 24/03/2023, The New Arab 21/03/2023, Première Urgence Internationale 28/03/2023)

current crises
in Pakistan


These crises have been identified through the INFORM Severity Index, a tool for measuring and comparing the severity of humanitarian crises globally.

Read more about the Index

PAK005 - Monsoon floods 2022

Last updated 29/02/2024


Drivers

Other seasonal event

Crisis level

Country

Severity level

3.7 High

Access constraints

4.0

PAK001 - Complex crisis

Last updated 29/02/2024


Drivers

Displacement
Conflict

Crisis level

Country

Severity level

4 High

Access constraints

4.0

PAK004 - Kashmir conflict

Last updated 29/02/2024


Drivers

Conflict

Crisis level

Country

Severity level

Access constraints

4.0

Analysis products
on Pakistan

Afghanistan-Pakistan: forced return of Afghans from Pakistan

07 December 2023

Afghanistan-Pakistan: forced return of Afghans from Pakistan

DOCUMENT / PDF / 481 KB

On 3 October 2023, Pakistani authorities announced that all foreigners in the country without valid documents would be forced to leave by 1 November or face arrest and deportation.

Displacement
Pakistan: flooding

30 November 2022

Pakistan: flooding

DOCUMENT / PDF / 2 MB

Since June 2022, heavy monsoon rainfall has led to an unprecedented crisis in Pakistan, causing floods, flash floods, and landslides. The disaster has significantly affected southern and central Pakistan, mostly affecting Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh provinces . 

Natural hazards
Pakistan: Floods

31 August 2022

Pakistan: Floods

DOCUMENT / PDF / 219 KB

Since 14 June, Pakistan has been experiencing an abnormal monsoon rainfall season, close to three times more intense than the past 30-year average. As at 29 August, the floods had killed more than 1,000 people, injured 1,600, and affected more than 33 million (equivalent to nearly 15% of the total population).

Natural hazards
Pakistan: Floods

02 February 2022

Pakistan: Floods

DOCUMENT / PDF / 207 KB

Heavy rainfall, heavy snowfall, and sub-zero temperatures hit Balochistan province between 4–10 January, causing flash floods and landslides. The floods affected over 17,300 people in 41 villages within the Gwadar district and damaged or destroyed more than 500 houses.

Natural hazards
Pakistan: Sindh Heatwave April-May 2017

24 April 2017

Pakistan: Sindh Heatwave April-May 2017

DOCUMENT / PDF / 441 KB

Many rural areas of Sindh are currently experiencing daily highs above 40°C, which are forecast to continue until early May. Heatwaves in the past have caused considerable health impacts including dehydration, sunburn, and heatstroke. Impacts on WASH lead to additional health risks such as waterborne diseases.

Natural hazards
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