Pakistani police have arrested many Afghan refugees in Islamabad and Afghans living there have asked the UN to stop Pakistan’s aggressive behavior.
Last month Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced that no Afghan without No Objection Certificate (NOC) could stay in the central capital Islamabad.
Although many Afghan have submitted their documents to the relevant authorities to get NOC but they still have to wait.
On the other hand, Pakistani police for the past two days launched door to door search and transferred many Afghans to police stations after their arrest.
Hamon Khamosh, an Afghan journalist living in B-17 area of Islamabad, said: “Yesterday, at 10:00 am, police came to our area and knocked on the door, when I came out, they asked me to give them my passport and visa, I gave them to them and told them to go to the police station, they had arrested many other people, but since I had the Pakistan Journalists Union card, they released me, but they had arrested the many other people.”
Khamush said that police operations are still underway in their area today and that they have arrested many people so far.
He said his friend Fayyaz was arrested and transferred to Haji Camp from where people are deported to Afghanistan.
A former Afghan journalist living in Baharakaw area did not want to be name said: “It was nine in the morning, we were sleeping when the door was knocked on very loudly, when my husband came out, the police asked for his passport and visa, we showed them to him, we even showed him the application documents for the No Objection Certificate, but they still took my husband away and he still hasn’t understood anything.”
Jalil Hashami, another resident of Islamabad, said police have started door to door search and arrested a number of Afghans.
Mohsan Dawar, a former member of Pakistan Parliament on his x.com wrote: “Horrifying reports from Islamabad B17, Afghan refugees with valid visas and documents, including women and children, are being arrested; this practice is a gross violation of basic human rights and humanity.”
Some Afghan refugees have demanded solution to these problems.
Shah Faisal, a resident of I-11 sector of Islamabad said that the UNHCR should take up this issue with the Pakistani government and address the problem.
She said: “This is a huge problem that Afghans are expelled in this manner, UNHCR and the world should address this issue with the Pakistani government.”
It is pertinent to mention that since 2023 Pakistan started forceful deportation of Afghan refugees and so far thousands of Afghans had been expelled from Pakistan.
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