No Refuge for Refugees

Forced to leave F-6 park after six months, a majority of Afghan migrants have moved to Attock and Peshawar

The District Administration of Islamabad has forced the Afghan refugees to vacate the F-6 Park where they had been taking shelter for the past six months.

There have been 180 Afghan families, comprising around 700 persons including children and women, residing in tents in the park for the past six months. All of them were Hazara people who had migrated to Pakistan after taking over of Kabul by the Taliban.

The Afghan families were given an ultimatum by the district administration to vacate the park and were also offered another place  which is situated somewhere around the Carriage Factory. However, the refugees had been reluctant to accept the offer as there was no facility of any sort at the new place.

Later on, it was learnt that the district administration had arrested a few refugees at the camp and subsequently vacated the F-6 Park.

The arrested persons were taken to Kohsar Police Station where they were locked up for loitering.

When approached for their version, a few of the refugees claimed that the people arrested by the police weren’t indulging in any objectionable activities but were sitting in a nearby mosque.

“As there was no toilet facility in the park, a majority among us were forced to use the washrooms at the mosque,” said a refugee at the camp.

Later on, a few women belonging to the community approached the police station for the release of the arrested persons but they were also taken into police custody, it is reliably learnt.

However, the women were released after a few hours but the arrested persons were sent to Adiyala Jail.

The Afghan migrants, scared and left with no other option, were forced to vacate the park and the men who were sent to the prison were also released by the authorities concerned.

Soon after vacating the park, most of the migrants moved to Attock and Peshawar while some people moved to rented homes in Rawalpindi.

These refugees have been of the view that they have nowhere to go as their state is not willing to own them. Therefore they should be provided shelter in those countries which are basically responsible for the situation in Afghanistan.

They had moved to Pakistan after the change of regime in Afghanistan as they feared that the change of power in their native country would have grave consequences for them on account of their faith.

An immigrant, Surraya Mosawi, who has been part of the protest camp set up at the park, when contacted by Bol News said that actually there were three groups who were protesting near the National Press Club, Islamabad including their group but the authorities concerned only took action against the group which had comprised the Hazara people.

“This is a very sad story that Hazara people have been facing discrimination in Afghanistan as well as here in Pakistan. The local authorities took action against us while other groups are still sitting in the surroundings of the press club,” she said.

While elaborating on the episode of vacating the park, she said seven refugees, most of them teenagers, were arrested by the police for no reason whatsoever.

“When we approached the police station along with some other women, the police arrested us too and kept us in jail for around four hours during the night before releasing us. However, the men who were in the custody of the police were sent to jail,” she said.

“Later on we entered into the negotiations with the local authorities for the release of arrested refugees and they asked me to visit these people in person at Adiyala Jail and make a phone call to the people who are sitting at the park and ask them to vacate the place,” she recalled.

It is pertinent to mention here that Mosawi was the person who was leading this group. According to her, she did so as was ordered to her and thus the prisoners were released from the jail when people sitting at protest sit-in vacated the park.

An immigrant, Muhammad Baqir Ahmadi who himself has been the part of the protest camp for over five months, said they weren’t ready to set up their camp at the place which was offered by the district administration Islamabad as there wasn’t any kind of facility available there.

He said after vacating the park most of the people have made their way to Peshawar or Attock while a few of them have started collectively living in the rented homes in Rawalpindi.

He said there were many people in the camp who were holding higher education degrees like MBBS, engineering etc but these people also had no other option but to do labour work of loading and unloading at Sabzi Mandi, Islamabad.

He said those who preferred to go to Peshawar or Attock are well trained to make handmade carpets. He said there are small companies in these cities who buy handmade carpets at low rates which later on sell at exorbitant rates in the market.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior, Government of Pakistan has announced general amnesty for overstaying foreigners and it has given a deadline to them to leave Pakistan till December 31st.

These foreigners wouldn’t be charged on overstay in Pakistan and no legal action would be taken against them if they avail this facility.

They can apply through the Pakistan Online Visa System (POVS) and exit Pakistan after obtaining the Exit Permit.

In an ad published in the newspapers, the ministry also highlighted the consequences of overstaying in Pakistan by foreigners which may lead to a three-year sentence.

It warned these foreigners that after December 31st, legal action will be initiated against them for overstaying and they will also be blacklisted for future entry into Pakistan.