The charges d'affaires (diplomatic representative of state) of Afghanistan's embassy in Islamabad, Sardar Ahmad Shakib, has asked the Pakistani government to stop arresting Afghan citizens residing in Pakistan, reported Afghanistan-based news channel TOLO News.
More than 1,000 Afghans are imprisoned in Pakistan, Shakib said.
"1,050 Afghan citizens are in Pakistan's prisons and efforts are underway to release them and we called on the Pakistan government to stop arresting Afghan citizens," Shakib said, as quoted by TOLO News.
The relatives of those arrested said their family members are in bad condition in Pakistan's prisons.
An Afghan national said: "It has been three months since the government of Pakistan arrested our family members. We ask the Pakistan government to release them."
"It has been five months since the Pakistani government arrested my 17-year-old brother, and they didn't release him," another Afghan national said, as quoted by TOLO News.
"We ask Pakistan to release Afghan citizens immediately because according to international conventions, no country has the right to arrest refugees," said Asifa Stanikzai, a refugees' rights activist.
More than 520 Afghan nationals, including children and women, were released from prisons in Karachi on Saturday.
According to a Peace for Asia report, many illegal Afghani immigrants are kept in Pakistani prisons, their deportation is prolonged and their cases are stuck in the courts on various pretexts.
After the Taliban took over Afghanistan, last year, several civilians fled to different countries in order to seek refuge. Some of them also went to Pakistan for shelter but instead of giving attention, Pakistan took action against Afghani migrants.
Most of the immigrants were women and children. Among them, some women are sick and some women are expecting mothers. These medical facilities are inadequate. A few women have given birth to children in prison and cannot access medical care.
International organizations donated huge amounts to the Pakistani government for Afghan refugees but little do they know that their money is not used for their benefit. Women and human rights organizations have not reached out to these victims.
The Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM) was helping these imprisoned Afghan refugees, with financial and legal support. There is only one female lawyer in Karachi, Advocate Manza Kakar fighting for the rights of Afghan women and children and raising funds for them, reported Peace for Asia.
A few political parties in Sindh have been campaigning to expel Afghan refugees from Sindh for some time now. Under pressure from these political parties, and to strengthen its vote bank, the Sindh government's actions against the Afghans go against basic human rights and refugee laws.
( With inputs from ANI )
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