Responding to reports of arbitrary detention and harassment of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers by law enforcement agencies in Islamabad in Pakistan, Babu Ram Pant, Deputy Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International, said:
“The police night raids, harassment and arbitrary detention of hundreds of Afghan refugees, including women and children, in the capital city is part of a larger discriminatory policy against Afghans inside the country. The requirement that all Afghan refugees in Islamabad must obtain a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) places onerous obligations on them in addition to existing documentation requirements. The Pakistani government has repeatedly and arbitrarily enacted policies increasing the precarity of Afghan refugees inside the country, leading thousands to return to Afghanistan in the last 15 months, and this newest policy measure has endangered an already at-risk population.
“The Pakistani authorities’ actions are sweeping and discretionary in nature and have resulted in the harassment and detention of refugees even when in possession of valid documents and visas. All refugees and asylum seekers, regardless of documentation status, have the right to due process and protection against forced return in international human rights law.
“All refugees and asylum seekers, regardless of documentation status, have the right to due process and protection against forced return in international human rights law.”
Babu Ram Pant, Deputy Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International
“Amnesty International urges Pakistan to abide by its obligations under international law, including the principle of non-refoulement, by taking immediate steps to ensure the release of all those detained and revoking the policy of obtaining an NOC at once.”
Background
The Joint Action Committee for Refugees has reported that over 800 Afghans have been detained in Islamabad since 1 January 2025. Earlier, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced that no Afghan nationals will be allowed to stay inside the capital, Islamabad, without a No Objection Certificate (NOC). This announcement came after protests by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Islamabad on 26 and 27 November in Islamabad during which unlawful use of force by security forces resulted in a dozen deaths. Since the protests, the capital city police have been reportedly racially profiling ethnic Pashtuns resulting in the arbitrary round up Afghans and people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who live in the city.
In October 2023, the Pakistan government unveiled the ‘Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan’, phase 1 of which involved a 30-day deadline for “undocumented” Afghan refugees to leave the country or be subject to deportation. Since then, 783,918 people have returned to Afghanistan. Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Pakistani authorities to reverse its decision in light of its international human rights obligations and provide protections to Afghan refugees against arbitrary detention and harassment. In April 2024, Pakistan announced plans to begin phase 2 of its Plan to deport Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders, however it has not been fully implemented.
