Pakistani Police arrested scores of Afghan refugees in Rawalpindi on Friday night accused of carrying weapons and military equipment.
During a unique operation in Rawalpindi, the Pakistani police have detained many Afghan migrants being accused of carrying military equipment according to unconfirmed sources.
This comes as the detention of Afghan migrants across Pakistan has significantly increased over the last couple of weeks, in Karachi, in particular, prompting widespread condemnations on national and international levels.
In a recent incident, over 200 Afghan women and underage children have been locked up at the Central Jail Karachi for nearly two months now. While it is reported that they were arrested because of their alleged “illegal” stay in Pakistan, some human rights activists revealed that these women and children were considered a security ‘threat’ by the local police.
The deteriorating security situation in Pakistan and growing tensions between the Taliban government and Islamabad over the border issue have further complicated matters for Afghan refugees. The unexplained incarceration of Afghans is not a new development in Pakistan. However, their frequency has increased significantly since the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul. Even women and children are facing inhumane conditions in prisons, facing rape threats, with no justice in sight. While local human rights bodies in Pakistan like National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) have been highlighting issues of Afghan refugees, the provincial governments and security agencies are simply ignoring their pleas.
Meanwhile, United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Pakistan has raised grave concerns regarding the inhuman conditions of Afghan men, women, and children in prisons in Pakistan. UNHCR has urged Pakistani police to respect basic human rights and stop detaining Afghan refugees, however, the situation for Afghan nationals worsens with each passing day.
