The Baloch National Movement (BNM) has urged members of the European Parliament to support the withdrawal of Pakistan’s GSP+ trade status, citing enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations in Balochistan.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the party said a delegation from its Foreign Department’s GSP+ Accountability Team held meetings in The Hague on October 23, stepping up its campaign ahead of a review of Pakistan’s status that it expects in January 2027.
The delegation met MEPs Anna Strolenberg and Raquel García Hermida-van der Walle, as well as Esther Láinez, president of the Young European Federalists (JEF) Netherlands. The meetings took place during the launch of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) Netherlands at Europa Experience, under the theme “Global Challenges We’re Facing Together”.
The BNM said its representatives briefed them on the human rights situation in Balochistan, the Baloch struggle for independence and self-determination, and Pakistan’s “failure to uphold its international human rights commitments”.
The delegation called for the revocation of Pakistan’s preferential trade privileges, arguing that “a country involved in widespread enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, collective punishment and other serious human rights violations should not continue receiving trade benefits without proper accountability”.
It also presented a detailed dossier documenting human rights concerns in Balochistan and what the party said was Pakistan’s non-compliance with the international conventions linked to the EU’s GSP+ scheme.
The party said its Foreign Department had spent the past two years challenging Pakistan’s GSP+ privileges through meetings with European representatives, formal submissions and the presentation of documented evidence. These efforts had brought Balochistan’s human rights situation to the attention of European policymakers, it said.
Describing the period leading up to the expected review as crucial to its campaign, the BNM urged the EU to consider its proposals, evidence and submissions when assessing Pakistan’s compliance with the scheme’s conditions.
The party said it would continue pressing European institutions and policymakers for the withdrawal of Pakistan’s status and work to keep Balochistan’s human rights situation part of EU discussions on trade and accountability.
“Trade preferences should not become a shield against accountability for serious human rights violations,” the statement said, urging the EU to uphold the human rights principles underpinning its trade policies.