Dozens of Afghan migrants and activists were forcibly detained during late-night police raids in Islamabad’s Argentina Park.
Islamabad
Several Afghan migrants, including women activists, were beaten and detained after Islamabad police carried out sudden late-night raids at Argentina Park, Afghan media reported on Tuesday. The operation, conducted without prior notice, sparked widespread concern among rights groups who fear escalating pressure on vulnerable Afghan families residing in Pakistan.
Reportedly, police surrounded the park at around 1:30 am, where nearly 200 Afghan families and activists had been camping for the past four months. Eyewitnesses told the outlet that officers used physical force to dismantle tents and load people—many of them women and children—into police vehicles. A video shared by migrants showed distressed families being taken away in the dark.
They came, gathered everyone, dismantled all tents and loaded us into vehicles. Some children are injured. We don’t know where they’re taking us, one migrant said in a recorded message. Another activist, with visible injuries on her eye and forehead, said she was beaten while trying to defend the rights of Afghan women. I am here for the rights of women, for human rights. Because I am Afghan. Because I am a woman, she said.
Reports indicate that police warned of forcibly relocating nearly 400 vulnerable Afghan families back to Afghanistan, raising alarm among humanitarian organisations. Activists fear these actions violate international norms on refugee protection, especially for women and children fleeing Taliban repression.
Rights advocates have urgently appealed to international organisations and global media to intervene, stressing that ignoring the situation means abandoning people whose only weapon is the cry for justice.
This incident follows growing complaints from Afghan refugees about intimidation by local authorities. Migrants have reported frequent searches, arbitrary arrests, and exploitation by police officers who, according to victims, take advantage of their precarious legal status for monetary gain.