A protest camp led by the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) in Quetta entered its 5,864th consecutive day on Friday, highlighting what families describe as the state’s systematic use of enforced disappearances in Balochistan.
Now spanning over 16 years, the hunger strike camp is one of the longest-running protests in South Asia. Families of the forcibly disappeared continue to gather daily, demanding justice for thousands of Baloch men and youth allegedly abducted by Pakistani security forces.
On Friday, Khuda Bakhsh Baloch, Noor Muhammad Baloch, and Nazir Ahmad Baloch from Kalat visited the camp to show solidarity with the victims’ families.
Speaking at the camp, VBMP Vice Chairman Mama Qadeer Baloch said that “enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and restrictions on civil liberties have become institutionalised in Balochistan.”
“These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a wider policy that has devastated generations,” he said. “Behind every missing person is a mother still waiting, a child still hoping.”
He accused state forces of not only targeting civilians but also enabling non-state armed groups to operate in various regions—allegedly to crush democratic movements and intimidate the population.
According to Mama Qadeer, military operations have intensified in Makran, Kalat, Khuzdar, Awaran, Mastung, Bolan, Mach, Harnai, and Dukki, leaving residents in a state of fear and legal limbo.
He appealed to the United Nations and international human rights organizations to intervene, stating that silence from the global community has emboldened further abuses.
“The world watches, but it does not act. This silence is not neutral—it is deadly,” he said.
While the United Nations and other rights bodies have previously expressed concern over such incidents in Balochistan, the VBMP argues that meaningful international investigations and accountability remain absent.
“The Baloch are denied even the right to grieve with dignity,” Mama Qadeer said, calling for urgent, independent inquiries into the thousands of missing persons cases across the region.