The chargés d’affaires of Afghanistan’s embassy in Islamabad, Sardar Ahmad Shakib, called on the Pakistani government to stop arresting Afghan citizens in Pakistan.
He said that more than 1,000 Afghans are prisoners in Pakistan.
“1,050 Afghan citizens are in Pakistan prisons and efforts are underway to release them and we called on the Pakistan government to stop arresting Afghan citizens,” said Shakib.
Meanwhile, relatives of those arrested said their family members are in bad condition in Pakistan’s prisons.
“It has been three months since the government of Pakistan arrested our family members. We ask the Pakistan government to release them,” said an Afghan national.
“It has been five months since the Pakistani government arrested my 17-year-old brother, and they didn’t release him,” said an Afghan national.
“We ask Pakistan to release Afghan citizens immediately because according to international conventions, no country has the right to arrest refugees hadn’t misread them,” said Asifa Stanikzai, a refugees rights activist.
On Saturday, more than 520 Afghan nationals, including children and women, were released from prisons in Karachi.