IEA calls on Pakistan to stop mistreating Afghan refugees

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has called on Pakistan to stop mistreating Afghan refugees and to uphold international laws pertaining to refugees.

In an announcement on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that despite efforts by the Afghan embassy in Pakistan to solve the problem, the challenges of Afghan refugees in Pakistan continue.

“To solve the problems, the Foreign Ministry of Afghanistan, the embassy and the consulate of the country in Pakistan have tried together, but unfortunately, despite the requests, this problem has not been resolved,” said Zia Ahmad Takal, the deputy spokesman for the Foreign Ministry.

“The Foreign Ministry has always asked the Pakistani officials through the diplomatic means to respect the rights of Afghan refugees and to prohibit the police of that country from mistreating Afghans living and traveling there and to do good to Afghans as Muslim neighbors.”

According to reports, at least three million Afghan refugees are currently living in Pakistan.

The Pakistani authorities had previously said that the Afghan immigrants were arrested for entering and staying illegally in Pakistan and will be detained until a court has made a ruling.

A number of political experts meanwhile said that the persecution of Afghan immigrants by Pakistani forces is against international laws of migration, insisting the problem must be solved through diplomatic means.

“Pakistan’s behavior towards Afghan nationals is condemnable and the country’s ambassador should be summoned to discuss all aspects of this problem,” said Tariq Farhadi, a political expert.

This comes after reports emerged this week of the arrest of about 1,200 Afghan immigrants, including women and children, by the Pakistani police.