Kabul, Nov 21: Afghan refugees in Pakistan have described their situation as "extremely distressing and inhumane," reporting widespread abuse, including arbitrary arrests, frequent police searches, and systematic exploitation of their vulnerability for financial gain.

A report in an Afghanistan-based newspaper 8AM Media, also known as Hasht-e-Subh Daily, highlighted that Afghan refugees in Pakistan do not have basic human rights and live in constant fear and anxiety. Human rights groups and refugee-support groups have remained silent regarding the uncertainty and the government's failure to fulfil its commitment about human rights and the protection of refugees.

Over the past few months, as tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan continue, Islamabad has increased its pressure on Afghan refugees with the Pakistani forces conducting widespread harassment of migrants each day in various areas, including Islamabad. Apart from official operations involving the arrest of Afghan refugees without visas, people in plain clothes extort money from migrants in residential areas. Afghan people have said that they live in inhumane conditions filled with fear and anxiety and their refugee rights are not respected.

"The situation is extremely distressing. I wish the official operations team would simply arrest and take people away. This method is not right; the police know no one will report them, so they come individually for searches. Several men in plain clothes lie in wait in the neighbourhood, grab someone, and take them away. It is unclear whether they are police, thieves, or cooperating with the police. Now, even if an ordinary person commits theft or kidnapping under the name of the police, people assume he is a police officer," quoted an Afghan national as saying.

"These individuals detain migrants in their personal vehicles; some are released on the spot after paying money, while others are taken to police posts. They are probably police themselves or collaborating with the police. The level of theft and robbery is extremely high, and no institution hears the people’s voices. The situation is deeply painful; a country that has no defender and whose citizens have no protection or credibility anywhere in the world," the refugee added.

Junaid, another refugee, recalled how he was stopped by a man in plain clothes a few nights back when he was going to buy something.

Recalling the incident, Junaid said, "He introduced himself as a police officer and asked for my visa. I asked: Who are you? He said he was police. I asked him to show his card. He treated me violently and said that if I talked too much, I would be arrested. I tried to resist, but then two other men arrived and told me to get into the car. I had to pay 15,000 rupees for my release. Now we do not know who is police are. It is clear they have realized that migrants have no one behind them and are using this situation to fill their pockets."

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Mohammad, one of the refugees, accused Pakistani police officers of extorting money and called the situation in Pakistan "truly inhumane and unbearable."

"I have locked myself inside the house day and night. When operations take place, I am forced to flee and hide somewhere else. But now, out of fear of people in plain clothes, we think everyone is the police. No one understands how they arrest people, empty their pockets, and then release them. This situation is truly inhumane and unbearable. We do not know whether Pakistani authorities are aware of these actions or whether they have allowed people to be humiliated and subjected to such looting," the report quoted Mohammad as saying.

Meanwhile, several Afghan refugees in Pakistan, in open letters sent to the United Nations and other agencies involved in refugee evacuation processes, have voiced concern over the increase in arrests, harassment and forced deportation.

On November 17, Afghan refugees in a letter to the United Nations Refugee Agency International Organization for Migration and domestic and international media, said that forced deportation to Afghanistan would expose them to imprisonment, torture and even death under Taliban rule. In the open letter, Afghan refugees have stated that landlords have warned them to vacate their homes at the earliest or show valid visas.

(IANS)