Afghanistan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation has informed of releasing hundreds of Afghan refugees from Pakistani jails in the past few days.
A spokesperson to the ministry of refugees and repatriation in an interview with The Kabul Times correspondent said nearly 1,500 Afghan refugees have been arrested by Pakistani police in the country’s Sindh state in recent week.
“Nearly 1,500 Afghan refugees have been arrested in recent weeks by Pakistani police in the country’s Sindh.
With continued efforts from the Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, a number of Afghans including women and children had been released soon after they were arrested there, while some others were released in a past couple of days and they are on way to their home in Afghanistan,” said Mufti Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, a spokesperson to the ministry of refugees and repatriation.
He said that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) side took necessary steps in connection with releasing the Afghan refugees after they were arrested by Pakistan police, adding that they held meetings with the Pakistani side and UNHCR to address problems facing Afghan refugees in the host country.
Haqqani further said that the ministry of refugees and repatriation was making effort to address all problems and challenges facing Afghan refugees in various countries, particularly in Pakistan and Iran. Meanwhile, deputy spokesperson to the Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Ahmad Zia Takal told The Kabul Times correspondent that 524 Afghan refugees including 54 women and 97 children were released from Pakistani jail this Saturday following continued efforts of the Afghanistan embassy to Islamabad and Afghan consulate in Karachi.
He further said that 303 more Afghan refugees including 63 women and 71 children who were imprisoned in a jail in Karachi’s Haidarabad city were released this Monday and they were now on way to their home country.
According to Afghanistan ministry of refugees and repatriation, there are approximately 7 million refugees living in various countries of the world, of which three million are in Iran, three million in Pakistan, and nearly one million are living as refugee in other countries across the world.
Afghan refugees are facing with various problems in Pakistan. Previously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate had said it continually asked Pakistan for providing facilities in connection with issuing visas to Afghans who are commuting and those who have not been issued visas to legally visit the country.
It is worth mentioning that Afghans who would like to legally visit Pakistan should wait for months to get their visas issued. There are thousands of Afghans who have been waiting for the past 15 months but they have not been issued visas so far.
Samiullah Momand
Hundreds of Afghan refugees released from Pakistani jails
