RASC News Agency: In continuation of the detention, harassment, and mass expulsion of Afghanistani migrants from Pakistan, human rights activists in the country have recently reported the arrest of Afghanistani women and children by the Pakistani police in the province of Sindh.
According to a report by Associated Press published on Saturday November 11th, the forced expulsion affects mostly Afghanistani nationals because they constitute the largest number of foreigners residing in Pakistan.
Muniza Kakar, a lawyer defending Afghanistani prisoners in Pakistan, recently stated that the police in Sindh have been raiding people’s homes in the middle of the night and detaining Afghanistani families, including women and children, turning them into prisoners. Kakar further added, “After the expiry of the specified deadline, hundreds of Afghanistani citizens are being detained every day, and there is still no flexibility regarding the detention of Afghanistani children and women.”
It should be noted that last year, among the 1,200 individuals who were detained and imprisoned in Karachi by the police of this country due to the lack of legal residency documents, there were Afghanistani women and children.
Ms. Kakar also emphasized that even Afghanistani nationals with valid residency documents are constantly threatened with arrest, and many of them have imprisoned themselves in their own homes out of fear of forced detention and expulsion.
Furthermore, Hina Jilani, the head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, has stated that despite hosting Afghanistani migrants for 40 years, Pakistan still lacks a comprehensive mechanism to address asylum seekers and undocumented migrants. In response to these actions, Amnesty International has previously called on Pakistan to immediately halt the detention, harassment, and mass expulsion of Afghanistani migrants.
