Journalist-to-Refugee Pipeline
Lateef Johar Baloch
Nestled in the southwestern region of Pakistan, Balochistan is plentiful in gas, petroleum, brutality, and armed conflict. Since 2006, a renewed battle for independence has been waging between Baloch separatists and the government of Pakistan. Clashing parties demanded control of the province’s natural and political autonomy with little regard for civilians.
This was home to Lateef Johar Baloch. Growing up in the small village of Kolwa in the Awaran district of Balochistan before moving to Nadgo for his middle and high school studies. Lateef recounts seeing everything; domestic violence, drug trading, burning of houses, and killing of civilians.
He joined the Baloch Student Organization (BSO) in high school and started his long journey of advocacy and activist work. With the mission to raise awareness of the atrocities happening in Balochistan, the organization traveled to schools and colleges to inform and educate. Groups of 7-8 thousand people gathered in public squares to listen to their messages.
But the tide turned. Suddenly thousands of students, teachers, mothers, and fathers started going missing. In this complicated and ugly war, disappearances are not uncommon and often have tragic endings.
Then on March 18th, 2014, the president of the BSO, Zahid Baloch, disappeared. A month later, Lateef started his hunger strike in front of the Karachi Press Club, a strategic placement to lower the likelihood of Baloch ‘disappearing.’ He camped in a tent calling for the return of his mentor and friend while hoping to raise awareness to the plight of Balochistan.
For 46 days, Lateef sat there. Visits from friends, doctors, and even Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch, the Chief Minister of Balochistan, failed to convince Lateef to bring his hunger strike to an end. Only with assurances by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that the group would raise the issue at the United Nations’ International Commission for Missing Persons (ICMP), did Lateef end the strike. By then, the story had been covered by the BBC, DAWN, and other news organizations. Protests in solidarity had taken place worldwide, from Vancouver and Seattle to Berlin; the word was spreading, and Lateef knew he had to flee. Going to Dubai, then Nepal, back to Dubai, and finally to Toronto, where he was granted asylum.
In our interview, Lateef remembers the newness of Canadian culture. The language, the norms, the slang, and more. He laughs as he recounts trying to buy a coffee from Tim Horton for the first time: “I was standing in line when I realized I had no idea what to say or ask for when I got to the front, so I just left.”
Now in his last year at UofT with a double major in Political Science and Equity and Solidarity, Lateef continues to advocate for those in Balochistan. He currently serves as a Founding Member and former Deputy Coordinator for the Human Rights Council of Balochistan. His heart stays in activism. His future objectives include working towards an educational and advocacy organization highlighting the humanitarian crisis in Balochistan and creating a platform for marginalized groups, including refugees, to fight for their rights and global protection.