As voters in Gilgit-Baltistan cast ballots on Sunday (today) to elect a new regional assembly, a significant portion of the territory’s youth has been left out of the democratic process, not by choice, but by circumstances. Thousands of students from the region, studying in cities like Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar, have been shut out of the democratic process that directly shapes their futures back home.

With few institutions offering advanced degrees, G-B lacks the higher education infrastructure to keep its students there, and those that exist struggling to match standards elsewhere in the country so young people are left with no option but to migrate.