Summary Pakistan is host to one of the largest displaced populations in the world.
NEW YORK (Web Desk) – A new report by Human Rights Watch on Wednesday reveals that incidents of police abuses against Afghans in Pakistan have skyrocketed since the Tehreek-e-Taliban attacked Army Public School in Peshawar in December 2014, that claimed lives of more than 150 people, including 132 children.
The government has responded to that attack with repressive measures including the introduction of military courts to prosecute terrorism suspects, the lifting of an unofficial moratorium on the use of the death penalty, and proposals to register and repatriate Afghans living in Pakistan.
“The Pakistani police’s outrageous mistreatment of Afghans over the past year calls for an immediate government response,” said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director. “The Pakistani government should press the police to apprehend perpetrators of atrocities instead of scapegoating the entire Afghan community.”
The 37-page report, “‘What Are You Doing Here?’: Police Abuses against Afghans in Pakistan,” documents myriad rights violations against Afghans in Pakistan since December 2014.
Human Rights Watch conducted research into abuses against Afghans in Pakistan from April to October 2015. Interviews with Afghans in Pakistan took place in Peshawar and those with Afghans who had returned to Afghanistan took place in Kabul.
In Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch interviewed 41 men between the ages of 23 and approximately 80, and 9 women between 30 and 50. Between April and October 2015, Human Rights Watch also interviewed 46 Afghans, both registered and undocumented, living in largely Afghan neighborhoods and markets around Peshawar, Pakistan.
"While these numbers represent a small fraction of the overall Afghan population in Pakistan, their accounts of police abuse are consistent with reports by NGOs and the media that have monitored recent returns, and indicate that the problems that began after the December 2014 school attack have not ended," the report noted.
The report alleges that police have carried out raids on Afghan settlements, detained, harassed, and beaten Afghan men, extorted bribes, and demolished Afghan homes.
"Every Afghan interviewed by Human Rights Watch who had returned to Afghanistan said that fear of the police was the reason they had done so. Afghans remaining in Pakistan described a repeated pattern of arbitrary detention, extortion, and intimidation," it added.
The HRW urged the Pakistani government to ensure that all law enforcement and other government officials treat Afghans living in Pakistan with dignity and respect for their human rights in compliance with domestic and international law.
"Ending police abuses and ensuring that Afghans are treated fairly should be a first step toward formulating a viable legal framework to manage the Afghan population in Pakistan," the international watchdod said.
Pakistan is host to one of the largest displaced populations in the world. The 1.5 million registered Afghan refugees and 1 million undocumented Afghans that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates are living in Pakistan as of November 2015 include many who fled conflict and repression in Afghanistan during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and their descendants.
Some arrived as children, grew up in Pakistan, married, and had children of their own who have never lived in Afghanistan. Others have arrived in the decades of turmoil in Afghanistan since, seeking security, employment, and a higher standard of living.
