RASC News Agency: A refugee advocacy group has reported that Pakistani authorities have detained at least 190 Afghanistani refugees in Islamabad. The Joint Action Committee for Refugees stated that a “sweeping crackdown” is underway in both Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where dozens of Afghanistani refugees have been apprehended irrespective of their legal documentation. In a statement released on social media, the committee accused law enforcement agencies of indiscriminate detentions, alleging that authorities have been holding refugees without due legal process. “According to our information, multiple police stations have taken Afghanistani refugees into custody and are detaining them without adhering to legal procedures. As of now, approximately 190 Afghanistani refugees are being held at the Haji Camp detention facility in Islamabad,” the committee stated. It further condemned the arrests as a direct violation of a recent ruling by the Islamabad High Court.
Earlier this week, Pakistan’s Supreme Court issued a directive instructing authorities to cease the harassment of refugees and to ensure their treatment aligns with legal frameworks. However, despite this ruling, mass arrests and deportations persist following a series of high-level meetings chaired by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. These discussions culminated in the government’s decision to expel Afghanistani refugees from Islamabad and Rawalpindi and implement their gradual repatriation to Afghanistan. A senior police official, speaking to Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper, distanced law enforcement from direct involvement in the detentions, claiming that police officers were merely stationed “outside the Haji Camp detention center.” He asserted that the detained refugees were transferred to the facility by a local governmental agency and were being processed for deportation to Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, an Afghanistani refugee woman, who requested anonymity due to fears of retaliation, told Dawn that law enforcement authorities have been systematically rounding up Afghanistani refugees in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, forcibly relocating them to the Haji Camp on the outskirts of the capital. The woman, who fled to Pakistan in July 2022, disclosed that she had personally been detained at the Haji Camp for a day but was released after presenting documentation verifying her legal residency.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which monitors refugee movements, over 18,000 Afghanistani refugees were repatriated from Rawalpindi and Islamabad to Afghanistan in January alone. The IOM further reported that the rate of deportations accelerated in the latter half of the month compared to the first.
