The issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan continues to dominate public concern, with four individuals recently returning home while new cases of abduction have been reported. At the same time, law students in Turbat staged a protest demanding the safe recovery of a fellow student allegedly taken into custody.
Local sources said Abdul Karim, a resident of Panjgur who was detained by Pakistani law-enforcement forces in Nag Washuk on 31 July, returned home on 21 September. Similarly, Karim Rashid, reportedly detained in Parom, Panjgur, on 20 September, has been released. In Kech’s Tump area, Asim Baloch, missing since 1 May, reappeared after nearly five months, while Khalilullah Shahab, who reportedly disappeared from Quetta on 8 September, has also returned home.
However, families in Gwadar reported that Hilal Murad was taken from Baloch Ward on 20 September and remains missing. Relatives say no information has been provided about his whereabouts. Rights groups note that such patterns, some individuals resurfacing while others vanish, reflect the ongoing cycle of enforced disappearances across Balochistan.
Meanwhile, students at Turbat Law College held a rally demanding the recovery of their classmate, Jeeyand Liaquat. According to protesters, Jeeyand was allegedly picked up from his home in Kech on 25 August and has not been heard from since. Students carried placards calling for his immediate release and warned that if he is not presented safely, their protests would escalate.
Student representatives said Jeeyand was a hardworking young man whose disappearance has caused distress to his family and created a climate of fear on campus. They stressed that education is a fundamental right and warned that targeting students undermines both academic freedom and social stability.
Meanwhile, families of missing persons from Balochistan have been staging a sit-in protest in Islamabad for the last 69 days against enforced disappearances. Also a protest campaign is ongoing unabated in Quetta by the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) for over a decade.
Baloch political groups and human rights organisations have appealed to the international community to take notice of the continuing disappearances, calling for accountability and the safe recovery of all Baloch missing persons.