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At least 26 Afghan detainees were released from Pakistani prison and returned home, Afghanistan's Refugees and Repatriation department said, reported Khaama Press.
The detainees were brought from the prisons in Pakistan through the Spin Boldak border crossing. Afghanistan's department of Refugees and Repatriation, on Wednesday, said that women and children were imprisoned in Sindh because of the lack of residency documents. They were among the detainees who had been released. Over the past few months, hundreds of undocumented Afghan nationals, including women and children, have been imprisoned in Pakistan's prisons, including Karachi and Sindh, confronting fierce criticism by national and international entities. The organisations, particularly the Pakistan Human Rights Commission and the UN Refugee Agency, urged the government of Pakistan to treat Afghan citizens decently, reported Khaama Press. 137 Afghan citizens were released from Karachi prison earlier this month and returned home. Earlier, in the early weeks of March, Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested five Afghan citizens from Peshawar airport during the immigration process. The arrested Afghan citizens were all set to board an international flight to London on fake Afghan passports. Those arrested were handed over to an anti-human trafficking cell for further investigations, as per Khaama Press. The Afghan consulate in Karachi in January said that over the past three months, at least three Afghan refugees have died in prisons in Pakistan, Afghanistan-based TOLO News reported. This comes as Afghan refugees in Pakistan complain of mistreatment by the country's police.Pajhwok Afghan News recently reported that Pakistan's military forces torture and harass Afghans who travel through the Spin Boldak-Chaman gate. The Spin Boldak-Chaman Gate also known as The Friendship Gate is located on the Durand Line (Pak-Afghan border). Passengers travelling to Pakistan say the Pakistani forces misbehave with them, keep them waiting for hours on different pretexts and extort them. The Spin Boldak-Chaman border between Afghanistan and Pakistan border is crossed by more than 20,000 people daily for trade, treatment and other purposes. (ANI)
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