Pakistan should reduce rights violations against Afghan refugees by extending their legal residency status until at least December 31, 2017, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.
Yesterday, Pakistan has extended registered Afghan refugees' Proof of Residency (PoR) cards for six months, until December 2016.
The uncertain residency status of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan has encouraged police harassment, threats, and extortion, said the Human Rights Watch report.
"The Pakistani government's move to extend Afghan refugees' residency until the end of 2016 sends an important signal to police and local officials not to harass or coerce Afghan refugees to leave," said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch adding that an extension to the end of 2017 would allow more time for the situation in Afghanistan to stabilize, so that the refugees can return in safety.
The report added that threats by Pakistani officials over the past year have exacerbated the Afghans' insecurity.
On May 24, 2016, Balochistan's provincial Home Minister, Sarfraz Khan Bugti, said, "Either the Afghan refugees can return voluntarily, with respect and dignity, or the people of Balochistan can humiliate them and throw them out of the country."
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On June 27, Pakistan's minister for SAFRON, Lt. Gen. (Rtd.) Abdul Qadir Baloch, announced that Pakistan would undertake a "new tougher policy" toward Afghan refugees.
Kine said the Pakistan's government should protect Afghan refugees from vindictive reprisals linked to cross-border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.