ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the forces the factors which motivate Pakistanis to seek refuge beyond their borders, and on the sources of information upon which they rely for subsequent decisions. Since most of the claimants in this group came to Canada after having spent time in various countries including the United States, the chapter also describes the various bureaucracies, official and unofficial, through which they passed. It demonstrates how great the distance is between government policies relating to the movement of peoples and the actual refugee flows. This quality is particularly marked for the Pakistanis because most of them travelled with identification papers procured from unofficial agents at exorbitant prices. Torture is used in Pakistan to gain information, to obtain a confession, to punish, to humiliate, to intimidate and to terrorize. Torture victims include criminal suspects, political opponents and ordinary citizens against whom police officers want to take revenge or from whom they want to extract a bribe.
