800 AFGHAN REFUGEES DETAINED BY PAKISTANI POLICE IN ISLAMABAD SUBURBS

Tue 03 October 2023:

Pakistan police have detained 800 Afghan refugees in the suburbs of Islamabad, out of which 375 face deportation due to a lack of proper documentation.

“Islamabad police launched a search operation in Bara Kahu, Trinol, Mahar Abadian, Golra and Shams Colony and arrested 800 Afghan nationals,” police said.

“Four hundred Afghan nationals were later released on producing the proof of residence,” officials said. “375 other Afghan nationals had no identity papers, while 25 remaining Afghans have been detained till verification of their identity documents,” police further said.

“Lists of Afghans were compiled on the basis of secret information before the operation,” police said.

“Several criminal Afghan residents have also been pointed out and the operation will further step up in coming days,” officials said. Police said that the authorities have decided to deport 375 arrested Afghan nationals from Pakistan.

According to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of Afghan nationals residing in Pakistan has surged to 3.7 million as of June this year, with a mere 1.3 million of them officially registered with the authorities. Approximately 775,000 unregistered Afghans are currently residing in the country.

As per Pakistan media outlets, a major 68.8 percent of Afghan citizens in Pakistan have settled in urban or semi-urban areas, while the remaining 31.2 percent are disturbed across 54 different regions including villages.

Taliban considers the detention and alleged torture of Afghan immigrants in Pakistan to be against international standards and says that it has discussed this issue with Pakistani authorities many times through the Afghan embassy in Pakistan, and that it has been emphasized that Afghan immigrants in the country must be treated according to international laws.

At the same time, the Ministry of Refugees and Returnees says that to solve this problem, they are in contact with the Pakistani authorities to stop the process of arresting migrants and release the imprisoned Afghans.

Experts say that currently immigrants in Pakistan are facing many problems and challenges, and to solve these challenges, there is a need for diplomatic talks between Kabul and Islamabad based on international migration laws.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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