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Afghanistan consul general in Karachi alleges Pakistani police are continuing to detain refugees

Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 26 Sep 2023

Afghanistan consul general in Karachi alleges Pakistani police are continuing to detain refugees

Photo Courtesy: FAO/Hashim Azizi

Afghanistan's consul general in Karachi has alleged that hundreds of Afghan refugees have been detained in Pakistan in the past 15 years.

He said the detention of refugees by Pakistani police is continuing.

He asked the Pakistani government to stop the detention of registered refugees from Afghanistan.

“The process of detaining Afghans has been continuing by Pakistan's police. More than 900 Afghan refugees have been so far detained. However, 200 of them were released by the efforts of the consulates,” Takhari was quoted as saying by Tolo News.

The Afghanistan refugees in the country have asked the Taliban government of Pakistan help them.

Ghafar, an Afghan refugee in a Pakistani prison, expressed his frustration and told Tolo News: “We have a bad situation in Pakistan’s prisons. The Pakistan police have been mistreating us and oppressing us.” 

The Caretaker Federal Government of Pakistan in a letter instructed the authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa not to disturb Afghan refugees, reports the news agency.

The letter said that “harassing, arresting and detaining” registered Afghan refugees would “adversely” affect Pakistan’s “goodwill earned over the past forty-three years” with Afghanistan.