Violent arrests of migrants continue in Islamabad's Faisal Town

Afghan Voice Agency (AVNA): Pakistani police have arrested and taken away a large number of migrants from Faisal Town since Monday night, according to reports and videos posted on social media.

A number of migrant journalists living in the settlement have also said they are at serious risk of arrest.

"The Pakistani government's action against Afghan journalists is a political failure and an inhuman act," Pakistani journalist Qamar Yousafzai said, according to Amaj News. He added that this would only create conflict between the two countries and that even senior Pakistani journalists had been insulted by government officials.

In recent days, Pakistani police have raided the homes of migrants in Islamabad and arrested migrants, including women and children, despite having legal documents.

 

Sources told Amaj News that Pakistani police are "brutally" detaining Afghan refugees, including women and children, to the Haji camp in Islamabad.

The sources said in a video that a migrant woman suffered a heart attack after being transferred to the camp.

In response to this situation, the Embassy of the Islamic Emirate in Pakistan expressed deep concern over the arbitrary detention of 800 registered migrants in Islamabad, as well as Afghan citizens with official visas, and called on the Pakistani government and the UNHCR to intervene in this situation. .

The embassy said the process of obtaining security clearances by Afghan citizens living in the Pakistani capital had become a complex process, and instead of yielding results, the process had turned into arbitrary detention of at least 800 registered citizens and migrants.

The Afghan Embassy in Pakistan stressed the importance of protecting the rights, security and human dignity of Afghan citizens in Pakistan and called on the Islamabad government to address the serious concerns of the embassy and at the same time call on the role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to prevent arbitrary detentions, inspections and He stressed the displacement of migrants and the impact on families, especially women and children. is.

In early August, the mayor of Islamabad announced that no Afghan citizen would be allowed to stay in the Pakistani capital without a security clearance.

Pakistani officials claim that some Afghans were involved in political campaigns, especially violent demonstrations by supporters of Imran Khan's party in Islamabad in the first week of August.

On the other hand, it is clear that Pakistan is using the leverage of Afghan refugees and citizens to put pressure on the Islamic Emirate government over internal insecurity in the country.