Afghanistan Peace CampaignSome immigrants said that even though they had passports and visas, they were detained by the Pakistani police without any reason.
The Afghan Immigrant Council in Pakistan announced the detention of more than 17 immigrants in Islamabad.
Some immigrants said that even though they had passports and visas, they were detained by the Pakistani police without any reason.
“I’ve been told there were seventeen people arrested, and then the number rose. They frighten and threatened people in automobiles in a dangerous way. Both those with passports and those without were being detained until morning,” said Mir Ahmad Rufi, the head of the Afghan Immigrant Council in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, some of the detainees, who were eventually released after posting bail, spoke of how they were detained by Pakistani police.
“We were detained overnight at the police station from twelve until seven in the morning. They then arrived and began questioning. They looked at our visa and passport. Then … they freed us,” said an Afghan immigrant in Pakistan.
The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR), calling to refrain from politicizing the issue of immigrants in Pakistan, urged the neighbors—especially Pakistan—to treat the Afghan immigrants in accordance with international norms.
“Pakistan is our neighbor, and the Afghans who have moved there have done so in order to live in safety. They ought to be treated as immigrants and be given the rights in accordance with the international principles and laws,” said Abdulmutallab Haqqani, the spokesman of the MoRR.
“The Afghan embassy in Pakistan is obligated to investigate the reasons for why the Pakistani police arrested the Afghan immigrants,” said Asifa Stanekzai, an expert on migrant affairs.
More than 2.5 million Afghan immigrants live in Pakistan, and 300,000 of them lack legal documentation, according to the Islamic Emirate’s consul in Karachi, Pakistan.