Rome [Italy], September 2 (ANI): Pakistan has benefited from tariff exemptions under the Europe's GSP+ regime despite violence against Christians and minorities, attack on churches, lynchings and restrictions on freedom of press, according to an analysis published in the Italian daily La Verita, with author Francesco Duodo stating that Brussels will soon have to decide how much the conditions it has imposed actually matter to Islamabad.
The La Verita article points to the commercial benefits to Pakistan even as atrocities against religious minorities continue in the country.
Francesco Duodo notes that Pakistan reaped an estimated EUR732 million in tariff exemptions in 2024 alone under the European Union's Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) regime, allowing roughly EUR7.5 billion worth of Pakistani goods to flood the European market completely duty-free.
Duodo's article points out that while this financial windfall does not represent a direct cash transfer from European coffers, it shields Pakistani exporters, particularly in the lucrative textile sector, from hundreds of millions in tariffs.
This serves as a massive economic lifeline that Islamabad heavily depends upon for its foreign exchange reserves.
The critical crux of the commentary in La Verita is the glaring contradiction between these unearned economic privileges and Pakistan's dismal human rights ledger.
Duodo notes that under the GSP+ agreement, active since 2014, trade perks are strictly conditional upon Islamabad implementing 27 international conventions concerning human rights, labour protection, and good governance.
However, the article notes that reality on the ground tells a horrifying story of systemic abuse.
Duodo notes that minorities like Christians, Hindus, and Ahmadis live under the constant shadow of draconian blasphemy laws, which frequently trigger arbitrary arrests and violence.
The article in La Verita says that accusations can lead to arrests, trials, mob violence, and attacks against entire communities.
"One of the most dramatic incidents in recent years occurred in Jaranwala, Punjab, in August 2023. After two Christians were accused of desecration of the Quran, a mob attacked the city's Christian quarter, setting fire to and vandalizing numerous churches and homes," the author says.
Duodo states that a system of conditionality inevitably loses credibility without their violation producing consequences and that the European Commission's reports reveal that Pakistan has experienced sharp democratic and civil declines rather than improvements.
The article in La Verita points out that enforced disappearances continue in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and there is a crushing of freedom of expression, with journalists, activists, and opponents reporting pressure and intimidation.
The use of cybercrime laws and the PECA has raised serious concerns about freedom of expression, the author says
Duodo notes that with the new GSP+ framework approaching in 2027, the European Union faces a definitive moral and political test.
Duodo's analysis notes that EU Ambassador to Islamabad Raimundas Karoblis has correctly noted that trade renewal is not automatic, meaning Brussels must soon decide whether it will continue to finance a regime that routinely violates the fundamental rights of its own citizens, or finally let trade consequences match the severity of Islamabad's violations. (ANI)
Italian media flags Europe aid to Pak, cites violence against minorities
