More than 17 immigrants have been detained in Islamabad, according to a statement from the Afghan Immigrant Council in Pakistan.
Even though they had visas and passports, some immigrants said Pakistani police arbitrarily detained them.
“I’ve been told seventeen people were arrested, and then the number rose. They frighten and threaten people in vehicles dangerously. Both those with passports and those without were detained till morning,” According to the Afghan Immigrant Council head in Pakistan, Mir Ahmad Rufi, Tolonews reported.
The move came after the suicide bombing on Sunday, which claimed the lives of over 62 and injured more than 123 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, announced on Wednesday that militants behind a recent suicide bombing were being helped by ‘Afghan citizens’ across the border.
“The Prime Minister noted with concern the involvement of the Afghan citizens in the suicide blasts,” a statement from Sharif’s office said.
He also warned Kabul and noted “liberty of action available to the elements hostile to Pakistan in planning and executing such cowardly attacks on innocent civilians from the sanctuaries across the border”.
However, Kabul has denied all the allegations and reiterated that they would not allow individuals or groups to use Afghanistan’s soil against neighbouring countries, including Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) of Afghanistan called the neighbours, especially Pakistan, to handle the Afghan immigrants in accordance with international principles to avoid politicizing the issue of immigrants in Pakistan.
“Pakistan is our neighbour, and the Afghans who have moved there have done so to live safely. They ought to be treated as immigrants and given rights per international principles and laws,” said Abdulmutallab Haqqani, the spokesperson of the MoRR.
According to Afghanistan’s consul in Pakistan’s Karachi, over 2.5 million Afghan migrants live in Pakistan, and over 300,000 of them lack proper documents.