A 60-year-old Afghan national, Faiz Muhammad, has died in Karachi’s Landhi jail. She was reportedly suffering from a severe illness while in prison, Afghan-based Khaama Press reported.
The Afghan citizen, Muhammad, was arrested last month by Karachi police for failing to provide legal residence documents.
The prison officials have confirmed the death of the detained Afghan citizen, and have already informed the Afghan Council General in Karachi. The sources said the prisoner was suffering from a severe illness during her time in prison, Khaama Press reported.
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), earlier this week, 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.
The consulate said that more than 1,000 Afghan refugees, including women and children, are in prisons in Pakistan.
Farzad, a resident of Afghanistan’s Faryab, said that his father, who was detained by Pakistani police, died in prison.
According to him, his parents were detained by the Pakistani police when they went to the country for medical treatment. He said that his father died in the prison and that his mother has not yet been released.
“The dead body was at one of the hospitals in Karachi for 21 days because we waited in case my mother could at least come for the funeral of her husband, but unfortunately, the Islamic Emirate has not been able to get her released,” he said, as quoted by TOLO News.
Abdul Jabar Takhari, the Afghan consul in Karachi, said that the cases of 150 refugees have been addressed and that they will be released soon.
“1,050 people are imprisoned here. 150 of them are children and 138 of them are women. The decree for the release of 152 prisoners has been issued and they will be freed within two to three days,” he said, as quoted by TOLO News.
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)
