Amnesty International urges Pakistan to immediately release Afghan migrants
On Friday, Amnesty International issued a statement calling for the immediate release of Afghan migrants detained by Pakistani police. In recent days, the Pakistani police have arrested hundreds of Afghan migrants in the cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, and some have been deported.
Amnesty International, on Friday, January 17, urged the Pakistani government to revoke its new policy that requires additional documents such as a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for Afghan migrants to stay in Islamabad.
The organization stated that this new directive by Pakistan places vulnerable and at-risk Afghan groups in dire conditions. The statement reads: “The New Year for Afghan refugees in Islamabad has been filled with fear and anxiety, as the police have launched nightly operations, harassment, and arbitrary arrests of hundreds of Afghan refugees.”
Babu Ram Pant, the Deputy Director for South Asia at Amnesty International, stated that the nightly police raids, harassment, and arbitrary detention of hundreds of Afghan refugees, including women and children, in Islamabad, Pakistan, are “part of a larger discriminatory policy against Afghans” within the country.
For the past two weeks, Pakistani police have been going street by street and house by house in the cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, searching for Afghan migrants. They have detained migrants without documents, and in some cases, even those with valid visas.
Among the detainees, there are also women and children.
According to the Taliban embassy in Islamabad, in the first week alone, the Islamabad police arrested approximately 800 Afghan migrants.
This situation highlights the increasing vulnerability of Afghan refugees, many of whom are fleeing conflict and seeking safety in neighboring countries. The continued crackdown by Pakistani authorities raises concerns about the broader humanitarian implications for these migrants, as well as the international community’s responsibility to protect displaced individuals.
Amnesty International’s call for the immediate release of detained migrants underscores the urgent need for Pakistan to reconsider its policies and adhere to its international obligations to protect refugees and asylum seekers.
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