report in TOLOnews, Sept 11, 2023 at 10:11 PM
In the wake of rising tensions between Kabul and Islamabad, Afghan refugees in Pakistan complained about mistreatment by the county’s police.
An official of the Afghan Refugee Council in Pakistan said that the Pakistani police have arbitrarily detained 100 Afghan refugees in Karachi.
“They have imposed heavy fines. They have taken actions under the pretext of illegal migration. This is a major concern,” said Mir Ahmad Rauf, head of an Afghan refugee council in Pakistan.
“We have witnessed that the police yesterday in Karachi detained more than 100 refugees,” said Faizullah Turk, an Afghan refugee.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti stressed the need to return illegal refugees in Pakistan, saying that they are working on a plan in this regard.
“We have formed a plan which has been confirmed by the strategic forces of Pakistan as well. Based on the plan, every illegal refugee who is in Pakistan, from whichever country they are, they have received warnings and will be returned to their countries,” he said.
In reply to a question, Bugti said in a press conference that the TTP attack was launched from Afghanistan, but the government has yet to ascertain whether only TTP members conducted the attack or if Afghan nationals were also involved in it.
According to the Pakistan media, Bugti urged the Afghan government to abide by the Doha Agreement which ensures that Afghan soil will not be used against any country.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation called on the countries which are hosting Afghans to observe the international rights of the refugees.
“We call on all hosting countries to use humane behavior with the Afghans and provide them with the rights determined for them based on international laws,” said Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, a spokesman for the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation.
“Pakistan is using the Afghan refugees as an economic and political tool. To solve the problem of Afghan refugees, the Afghan government needs to talk with the hosting countries and international community,” said Bahija Sadaat, a refugee’s rights activist.
According to the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, nearly 3 million Afghans are living in Pakistan.
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-185054
