Islamabad, August 3, 2023 – The Pak-Afghan International Forum of Journalists (PAIFJ) announced on Thursday that it had secured the release of 21 Afghan refugees out of 50 who were arrested by Pakistani police in a raid in the F-17 neighborhood of Islamabad on Wednesday night.
According to Mr. Yousufzai: “the refugees were released after the forum intervened with the authorities and presented their case. The forum said that the refugees were arrested without any justification and that their detention was illegal.”
The PAIFJ’s intervention came after a wave of criticism on social media and from human rights groups over the arrests. The arrests also sparked concerns about the safety of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, who have been increasingly targeted by authorities in recent months.
The PAIFJ said that it would continue to monitor the situation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and would take up any cases of illegal detention with the authorities.
The forum’s statement said: “We are grateful to the authorities for releasing the refugees and we hope that this will be a precedent for future cases of illegal detention of Afghan refugees.”
The statement also said: “We will continue to monitor the situation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and we will take up any cases of illegal detention with the authorities.”
The arrests of the Afghan refugees in Islamabad came amid a broader crackdown on Afghans in Pakistan. In recent months, Pakistani authorities have arrested hundreds of Afghans, mostly on charges of illegal entry or overstaying their visas.
