Pakistan: Afghan refugees criticize delay in immigration cases, mistreatment by military
Sep 01, 2023
Kabul [Afghanistan], September 1 : The Afghan refugees in Pakistan have criticised the delay in immigration cases and accused the Pakistan military of mistreating them for the past two years, Tolo News reported on Thursday.
This situation has even caused some immigrants to commit suicide.
Maryam Sadat, a citizen of Afghanistan, committed suicide on Wednesday in Islamabad.
"Three of our young people have lost their lives in the last two months due to the lack of attention of the immigrant-receiving countries and their false promises,” Tolo News quoted Mir Ahmad Rauf, the head of the Council of Afghan Immigrants in Pakistan, as saying.
Zahir Bahand, a journalist said, "Afghan immigrants are struggling with mental health issues. If the international community does not pay attention to their cases, a great humanitarian disaster will occur in Pakistan”.
Some Afghan immigrants complained about the mistreatment of the Pakistani military and said that the refugees without immigration cards are detained by the military.
"The immigrants are facing many problems due to not having Immigration cards, and the military detains them,” Tolo News quoted Malik Awal Khan Miakhail, the head of migrants in the South Zone Council, as saying.
The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) said that the Afghan embassy in Islamabad is in talks with Pakistani authorities to solve the problems of Afghan migrants.
According to the Deputy Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, Abdul Rahman Rashid, the citizens of the country are arrested in Pakistan due to a lack of legal documents.
"We have attachés there, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs representatives are there, and we communicate through the consulates. The Afghans who were detained there were released by the attachés of the Ministry of Refugees and the Foreign Ministry,” Rashid told TOLO News.
Meanwhile, nearly 3 million citizens of the country are currently migrants in Pakistan, Tolo News reported citing data from the Taliban ministry.
