EDITORIAL: Finally, the government has started scratching its head about the matter of vaccinating the very large number of people living in Pakistan that have no National Identity Cards (NICs), which by even the most conservative estimates runs into many millions of people. This subject was raised in this space before precisely so the government could give it some thought while there was still time, because now the moment of decision has come and, as it turns out, this test will have to be taken without doing the necessary homework for it. National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) chief Asad Umar touched upon the three million or so refugees inside the country when talking about the problem, and explained that those with Proof of Registration (PoR) cards issued by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) would be vaccinated, but he had no idea whatsoever about how the government was going to make illegal refugees take their jabs.
This is a very complicated issue indeed. Because even if they walk in voluntarily for their shots the state would be bound to make arrests and initiate legal action; even after the vaccines have been administered. That is why it is a much safer bet that the government would have to literally hunt down most of this bunch and force the needles into their arms. And the issue of the second shot only complicates the problem a whole lot more. It’s not as if authorities can simply look the other way and carry on with the vaccinations that are possible without unnecessary hassles because that would amount to keeping the virus alive in some of the densest population groups that routinely mingle with all segments of society when they clean their houses and take out their trash.
Still, there are only so many options to choose from. The government could devise an ingenious strategy to track all illegal immigrants and force them to get both jabs, in very little time of course, and also document them in the process - and then let the law deal with the more suspect cases. Or it could quickly accept that there is no way to put all the pieces of that particular puzzle together in the time that is left and it could just waive the condition of the ID card in light of the greater good. For, surely when it comes to the lesser evil it would be far more tolerable to let those illegal immigrants roam our streets and live up and down the country for a few more years than compromise the vaccination drive and allow the virus to spread even more when it is possible to put it to an end forever.
Sadly, the government’s problems don’t end with immigrants. There is also a very significant number of people who are not immigrants and haven’t done anything more illegal than lose their identity cards and not bother to apply for new ones. A lot of them are very poor and barely manage a square meal even after putting in the most demeaning labour, and have neither the time nor the money, nor do they care much for that matter, to stand in long lines to get new ID cards. Perhaps the only doable solution is to use this challenge as an opportunity and, as recommended earlier as well, set up Nadra booths at vaccination centres for fast track registration of the legitimate bunch and basic documentation, at least, and prosecution, at most, of the illegal ones among them.
This thing has put Pakistan in a very awkward position at a very sensitive time. It’s already nothing short of a small miracle that the third wave of the coronavirus has been kept from draining the life out of the economy. Just the other day Pakistan became one of only 30 countries to have administered more than five million doses to its citizens. That we were able to do this in only three months is truly admirable. This forward march must continue yet everybody must also understand that it will not get on the right track till everybody, including undocumented residents and illegal aliens, are taken along in it. This one is about providing a nationwide blanket of protection from the pandemic, after all, not confirming the citizenship status of hundreds of millions of people living in this country; all of whom will have to be ultimately vaccinated if everybody is to be kept safe from the virus. The government’s final decision is eagerly awaited.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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