Islamabad [Pakistan], September 16 : Amid the ongoing crackdown on Afghan refugees in Pakistan, a former Member of National Assembly (MNA) from North Waziristan and Central Chairman National Democratic Movement, Mohsin Dawar raised concerns over the recent crackdown on vulnerable Afghan refugees in Karachi.
Nearly three million citizens of Afghanistan are currently migrants in Pakistan, Tolo News reported citing data from the Taliban ministry.
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.
Dawar noted that at least 675 individuals, including women and children, have been arrested for the lack of correct documentation.
He further said that most of these refugees are poor and vulnerable and should be provided access to legal counsel immediately.
The former MNA also said that although they are unauthorized refugees, but that does not mean they are not entitled to protection, nor should they suffer the brunt of Pakistan's security concerns.
Moreover, Dawar emphasized that Pakistan's next government must seriously consider signing the 1951 Geneva Convention and its 1967 Protocol relating to the status of refugees.
Dawar, during the concluding session of the National Assembly, strongly criticized Pakistan's government support for Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan and their crackdown on vulnerable Afghans seeking refuge from the Taliban in Afghanistan.
He also noted that the banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is an extension of the Taliban in Afghanistan, hence, supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan means supporting TTP.
Former MNA Dawar also highlighted that the Afghans were considered good Muslims when the Pakistan was earning dollars from them. Since, now Afghanistan is not providing any dollars to Pakistan, Afghan refugees are getting arrested in different parts of the country.
He further alleged that Pakistan's "strategic arrests" and terrorists in Afghanistan have more freedom than ordinary Pakistanis in our areas. They are even allowed to visit the places where locals cannot go. However, there is no crackdown against them.
Moreover, crackdowns are carried out only against helpless and vulnerable Afghans refugees seeking shelter in Pakistan.
Afghan Refugee Council official in Pakistan said that the Pakistani police have arbitrarily detained 100 refugees in Karachi, according to the report.
Earlier this month, Afghan refugees in Pakistan criticised the delay in immigration cases and accused the Pakistan military of mistreating them for the past two years, TOLO News reported.
Maryam Sadat, a citizen of Afghanistan, died by suicide earlier this month 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 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."
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