Pakistan is continuing a months-long crackdown on Afghan refugees living in the country, detaining hundreds of people accused of lacking proper documentation.
Taliban leaders have asked Pakistan to stop the process "immediately." Not only has it continued, but Afghan refugees in Pakistan have told VOA that the crackdown in recent days has intensified in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and adjacent areas.
"Unfortunately, the detentions have intensified, and it still continues," said Shukria, an Afghan refugee who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban’s takeover.
Shukria, who asked that her full name be withheld, told VOA that the security forces arrested "even those refugees who have UNHCR’s documents."
She added that some Afghan refugees were arrested at their homes.
"In the places where most Afghans live, Pakistani police arrest Afghans from their houses. They know where they are living ... as they were required to register in the nearest police station," she said.
Shukria said that "among those arrested include women and children."
She added that Afghan refugees are "terrified."
"Most of the Afghans do not want to get out of their houses," she said.
The Afghan Embassy in Islamabad, in a tweet Thursday, said that Taliban officials at the embassy met with officials of Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior and had a "serious discussion on the detentions and harassment of Afghans in Pakistan, and it should stop immediately."
"The Pakistani side assured the leadership of the [Afghan] embassy of cooperation and added that they only arrest those who do not have legal documents."
Abdul Karim Haqqani, a Taliban official in the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad, told VOA on Wednesday that 300-400 Afghans have been detained by Pakistani security forces.
He added that they are trying to negotiate with the Pakistani officials for their "immediate release."
Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s newly appointed special envoy to Afghanistan, told VOA that those Afghans "without proper documents, or he or she has overstayed their visa limit, there is a law that they will be detained."
Quoting Pakistani officials, local media reported that undocumented Afghans face deportation.
But Arsala Khan, an Afghan refugee who works as a laborer at Islamabad’s Fruit and Vegetable Market, told VOA that he was detained while working even though he had his refugee card on him.
"I was halfway loading a car. I was arrested though I showed my smart card to them," said Khan, who said he was later released on bail.
The government of Pakistan, with the support of the United Nations, began issuing smart cards to Afghan refugees in Pakistan in April 2021.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stated that more than 1.3 million registered Afghan refugees are in Pakistan.
The U.N. refugee agency says about 3.7 million Afghans are living in Pakistan.
Of about 1.6 million Afghans who fled Afghanistan to neighboring countries after the Taliban seized power in August 2021, about 600,000 went to Pakistan, according to the agency.
Devon Cone, senior advocate for women and girls at Refugees International, told VOA that refugees who fled to Pakistan after August 2021 "bring a lot of challenges."
Cone said that the Afghans who arrived in Pakistan after the fall of Afghanistan into the hands of the Taliban have "limited opportunities."
Cone added that newly arrived Afghan refugees in Pakistan are "running out of money. Most of them sold all their belongings in Afghanistan, and almost two years later, they’ve run out of money ... Their visas expired. They can’t work in the labor market. They can’t access public education."
"And finally, they have mental stress and trauma from having had to flee Afghanistan, [and] not being able to go back," Cone said.
Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, told VOA that once refugees cross the border, they have "a right to international protection."
"All [refugees] have the right to have their asylum cases treated seriously and fairly," he said.
This story originated in VOA’s Afghan Service.
