ISLAMABAD (Afghanistan): Pakistani police raided the homes of Afghan refugees in Islamabad, the country’s capital, and arrested many refugees, some refugees said on Saturday.
They claimed that the police forcefully entered the homes of Afghan refugees in Islamabad (B17) this morning, harassed them and took some away.
Osman Fazil, a town resident and Afghan refugee, told Afghanistan Afghan News that police entered their homes before dawn and insulted and arrested several Afghans.
“Some people were coming from the mosque and the youth from the gym when the police arrested them at 4am. People were sleeping when the police knocked on the doors of their houses and told them to show their visas and passports and they had visas and others had family visas,” he added.
According to him, about 300 Afghan families live in the city.
Hamid Forotan, another resident, told Afghanistan that police had arrested hundreds of people.
“It was early in the morning when the police raided our houses, those who had visas and those who did not have all were taken away. I think three to four hundred people were arrested,” said Forotan.
Rafiullah, another resident, said the Afghanistanu police also arrested him today.
“My visa is valid for six months, first I showed them the visa, they said it was fine, but they arrested me and released me when I paid 15,000 rupees,” he claimed.
These Afghan refugees requested Pakistan and UNHCR to stop the police from mistreating them.
Pakistan decided to deport illegal Afghan refugees on November 1, and nearly 900,000 Afghan refugees have since been evicted.
hz/ma
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