Syed Munir Husain was a Pakistani civil servant and author. He was awarded the

Nansen Refugee Award The Nansen Refugee Award is awarded annually by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to an individual, group, or organization in recognition of outstanding service to the cause of refugees, Internally displaced person, displac ...

in 1988 for his leadership of the

Ministry of States and Frontier Regions The Ministry of States and Frontier Regions ur, , ''wazarat-e- reyasti o sarhadi umoor'' (abbreviated as SAFRON) is a federal ministry in Pakistan. The main responsibilities of the ministry are the administrative affairs and development act ...

as it supported over three million Afghan refugees.

Career

Husain joined the Civil Service Academy, Lahore in 1952. From 1961 to 1964, he worked as the deputy commissioner of

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, under the leadership of

Nur Khan Air Marshal Malik Nur Khan Awan ( ur, ; 22 February 1923 – 15 December 2011) commonly known as Nur Khan, was a three-star air officer, politician, sports administrator, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force, serving under ...

. In 1965, during the Indo-Pakistani War, he was in charge of West Pakistan's Home Department (Home Office). From 1973 to 1976, he was the chief secretary of

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

. From 1983 until 1987, Husain was the Secretary in Pakistan's

and during that time he expanded educational, job-creation, and veterinary services to help over three million Afghan refugees in Pakistan. It was the largest refugee-support program in the world at the time. From 1987 to 1988, he was the secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. In 1988 in Geneva, Husain was awarded the Nansen Refugee Award. He became the chairman of Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan in 1988, retiring in 1991. He published his memoir ''Surviving the Wreck'' in 2016. The

Express Tribune ''The Express Tribune'' is a daily English-language newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the flagship publication of the '' Daily Express'' media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper in a partnership with the ''Intern ...

noted his refusal to give false testimony against

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

Publications

* ''Surviving the Wreck: A Civil Servant’s Personal History of Pakistan'' ILQA Publications,

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, 2016 ISBN 978-9696400301, 304pp.

References

{{Authority Control

External links

Photo of Husain receiving the Nansen Refugee Award
UNHCR, Flickr People from Lahore Pakistani civil servants Pakistani government officials 20th-century Pakistani writers Nansen Refugee Award laureates