KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistani authorities have detained dozens of Afghan refugees, including women and children, in Islamabad in recent days as part of an ongoing crackdown.
A refugee woman told KabulNow that a group of Afghan women and children were arrested earlier today, January 30, by Islamabad police. Among them, she said, was a friend taken into custody along with her three children, including an 11-month-old infant.
She feared that the detainees would be transferred to Haji Camp and subsequently deported to Afghanistan.
Reports indicate that Pakistani law enforcement agencies continue to conduct house-to-house searches in Islamabad, with both uniformed and plainclothes officers patrolling refugee settlements. Police have been accused of using violent methods, including reports of female officers physically assaulting Afghan women during arrests.
The crackdown, which has intensified in recent months, is part of a broader campaign launched in November 2023 to arrest and deport Afghan nationals.
Since then, nearly 800,000 Afghans have been expelled to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Many of those deported include former government officials, journalists, and human rights activists—individuals who could face risks of persecution, imprisonment, or even death.
In recent weeks, searches and arrests have escalated in areas of Islamabad where Afghan refugees reside. Many detainees, activists say, have been taken into custody despite holding valid documents. The Taliban-run Afghan Embassy in Islamabad said that around 800 Afghans were detained in the first week of January alone.
Pakistan is home to an estimated 3.2 million Afghan refugees, according to the United Nations, with over 600,000 having arrived after the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
The mass deportations have drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups, who have urged Pakistani authorities to halt the expulsions and ensure the protection of refugees.