Image Credit: Credit: Karlos Zurutuza/IPS
Numerous Baloch families, who were forced to migrate Afghanistan due to the prevailing situation in Balochistan, are facing alarming insecurity in Afghanistan, The Balochistan Post has learnt.
According to details, the ongoing war in Balochistan has forced numerous Baloch families to migrate to Afghanistan for refuge. Afghanistan currently houses the largest population of Baloch immigrants in the world. But these Baloch families are facing an alarming insecurity and are living a life of helplessness and oppression.
The human rights organisations maintain that the fifth wave of insurgency in Balochistan has resulted in thousands of enforced disappearances in Balochistan; thousands of mutilated and partially decomposed dead bodies have also been found dumped in various areas throughout the region.
The Pakistani security forces are blamed to be carrying out stringent “counter-insurgency” measures in Balochistan to squelch the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan. The operation has forced thousands of families in the war-stricken areas to relocate to West Balochistan [Iran], internal Sindh and, especially, Afghanistan. Thousands of Baloch families are currently residing in Afghanistan as immigrants.
Balochistan and Afganistan not only share a common border but a centuries-old traditional history as well. Throughout the history, whenever an ill befell any of the two nations, they felt free to take refuge in the other’s land. But in the past few years — especially during Ashraf Ghani’s tenure — the Baloch immigrants have been increasingly living a life of oppression, helplessness and insecurity, The Balochistan Post (TBP) has learnt. The immigrants frequently sustain raids and attacks from the intelligence agencies.
According to the details received by TBP, two provinces of Afghanistan, Nimruz and Kandahar, house a significant number of Baloch immigrants. These immigrants are facing frequent deadly attacks allegedly from Pakistani intelligence agencies. Because of the non-providence of immigration card, the Baloch immigrants are also harassed by the Afghan forces on daily basis.
According to the sources, a Baloch immigrant family travelling out of Nimruz to seek medical treatment was stopped midway by the Afghan forces, manhandled and their possessions illegally confiscated.
TBP contacted Information Secretary Dilmurad Baloch of the Baloch National Movement, a Baloch nationalist political party, to inquire about the condition of Baloch immigrants in Afghanistan. He said that the largest Baloch diaspora currently resides in Afghanistan. But unfortunately, neither the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees nor any other international refugee organization has paid heed to the condition of the Baloch immigrants, or extended a helping hand.
Dilmurad Baloch said that Afghanistan itself has been mired in a brutal war for the past four decades. “The brutality and tyranny of Pakistan has forced hundreds of Baloch families to abandon their home and possessions and migrate to Afghanistan.”
He said: “the sense of insecurity and economic predicaments are the most serious issues confronting the Baloch immigrants. The Baloch immigrants have not been registered by the UNHCR, and neither provided with any of the required facilities of life.”
The BNM leader said that Baloch immigrants are facing a grave situation; they don’t have any access to a healthy diet nor their children are able to attain basic education. “Till the Baloch are not given their due human rights, their present and future condition will continue to remain uncertain,” DilMurad Baloch said.
TBP also had a conversation with the journalist Salam Sabir about the pitiful condition of Baloch immigrants in Afghanistan. Sabir said that every country has its interests which are constantly evolving. “But we must also take into account the fact that Afghanistan itself has been mired in war, and the condition of life will always be insecure and uncertain in such a war-stricken country,” He said.
“Most importantly, the Baloch mustn’t harbour any hopes from the Ashraf Ghani administration, as Ghani’s ascent to power has inflicted the current condition on Baloch immigrants.”
Sabir further said that Baloch political organizations have a primal responsibility of attracting the attention of the United Nations towards the abysmal conditions of the Baloch immigrants.