HUMAN RIGHTS “What Are You Doing Here?” Police Abuses Against Afghans in Pakistan WATCH “What Are You Doing Here?” Police Abuses against Afghans in Pakistan Copyright © 2015 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-6231-32989 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org NOVEMBER 2015 978-1-6231-32989 “What Are You Doing Here?” Police Abuses against Afghans in Pakistan Map …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..i Summary ......................................................................................................................... 1 Key Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 3 Methodology, Scope, and Terminology ............................................................................ 5 I. Afghan Population in Pakistan: The Politics of Registration ........................................... 7 The Refugees: Political Context ................................................................................................ 8 The Solutions Strategy ............................................................................................................ 12 December 2014 Peshawar School Attack and Aftermath .......................................................... 12 Conflict, Insecurity, and Lack of Livelihoods in Afghanistan ..................................................... 17 II. Intimidation and Abuse of Afghans in Pakistan ........................................................... 18 Afghans Living in Fear in Pakistan ........................................................................................... 18 Afghans Who Have Returned to Afghanistan ........................................................................... 26 III. Relevant International Law ........................................................................................ 32 International Human Rights Law ............................................................................................. 32 IV. Recommendations .................................................................................................... 34 To the Government of Pakistan ............................................................................................... 34 Regarding Access to Education, Employment, and Other Services for Refugees and Asylum Seekers ............................................................................................................................ 34 To the Government of Afghanistan .......................................................................................... 35 To UNHCR and Partners ........................................................................................................... 35 For those Afghans Wishing to Return Voluntarily to Afghanistan ........................................ 35 For those Afghans Considering Return to Afghanistan ....................................................... 36 To International Partners of Afghanistan and Pakistan ............................................................. 36 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 37 Map I HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | NOVEMBER 2015 Summary The police did not used to beat us much before December 16, 2014 [when the Taliban attacked a Pakistani school]. Now they [beat] us for no reason. I am afraid that one day when I won’t have bribe money, they will kill me. None of my other family members except me and my brother leave the house now. Our children do not go to school; they do not even go to play outside anymore.… [But] I cannot go back to Afghanistan. ―Karim (a pseudonym), an Afghan shopkeeper living in Peshawar, July 2015 Pakistan has long been host to one of the largest displaced populations in the world. The 1.5 million registered Afghan refugees and 1 million undocumented Afghans that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates were living in Pakistan as of November 2015 include many who fled conflict and repression in Afghanistan during the late 1970s and early 1980s, or their descendants. Some arrived as children, grew up in Pakistan, married and had children of their own who have never lived in Afghanistan. Thirty-five years later, the situation for Afghans residing in Pakistan is increasingly precarious. Unwanted in Pakistan, where they face increasing abuse by the police, many are unwilling to return to Afghanistan due to insecurity and the lack of any means of livelihood. Hostility towards Afghans living in Pakistan is not new, but it increased dramatically after the so-called Pakistani Taliban, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, attacked the Army Public School in Peshawar on December 16, 2014, killing 145 people, including 132 children. Since then, Pakistani police have carried out raids on Afghan settlements, detained, harassed, and beaten Afghan men, extorted bribes, and demolished Afghan homes. Every Afghan interviewed by Human Rights Watch who had returned to Afghanistan said that fear of the police was the reason they had done so. Afghans remaining in Pakistan described a repeated pattern of arbitrary detention, extortion, and intimidation. Both registered and undocumented Afghans have been the victims of Pakistani police abuse. This pattern of widespread threats and abuse is occurring against a backdrop of increasing insecurity and a faltering economy in Afghanistan, which has driven thousands of Afghans to leave the country in 2015 as they seek security and livelihood abroad. 1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | NOVEMBER 2015 The Afghan men and women whom Human Rights Watch interviewed described how the increasingly hostile climate for Afghans in Pakistan had left them feeling trapped: fearful of returning to Afghanistan; of Pakistani police raiding their homes and workplaces; and of paying bribes to the police to avoid arrest and detention. Many Afghans told Human Rights Watch that they returned to Afghanistan because the rampant extortion meant they could no longer make ends meet in Pakistan. The uncertainty of the registration process for Afghans in Pakistan has contributed to the problem. The first comprehensive registration of Afghans living in Pakistan, which took place in 2006-2007, provided many Afghan refugees with a Proof of Registration (PoR) card initially valid for three years. The Pakistani government subsequently extended the validity of the cards several times; the PoR cards will expire on December 31, 2015. Following a Tripartite Meeting of UNHCR, Pakistan and Afghanistan in August 2015, plans are being considered to extend the cards’ validity to 2017. Following the 2007 registration, UNHCR considered PoR cardholders (and not undocumented Afghans) as prima facie refugees. Undocumented Afghans—those who did not register—do not have the legal right to reside in Pakistan. Afghans who arrived after the census of Afghans in 2005 have not had an opportunity to register with the Pakistani government and therefore automatically fall into the undocumented category. A lasting solution to the current situation for both refugees and undocumented Afghans in Pakistan will depend upon improved respect for their rights. It also will require cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan to ensure that Afghans who wish to return to Afghanistan have access to education, housing, and health services when they do, and that Afghans who remain have access to appropriate assistance in Pakistan. While the Afghan government, UNHCR, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other international donors provide some financial assistance to cover transportation costs and immediate needs for registered refugees who return, most undocumented Afghans who do so, apart from a fraction of the most vulnerable, receive no assistance at all. International donors and the government of Afghanistan should work with UNHCR, and relevant NGOs to ensure that all vulnerable returning Afghan refugees have access to “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” 2 needed resources and services upon return; and work with the International Office on Migration and relevant NGOs to ensure the same for undocumented Afghans. Key Recommendations Human Rights Watch calls on the Pakistan government to act decisively to end the police abuses described in this report. Pakistan’s donors and the Afghan government can also take important steps to address these concerns. A full set of recommendations is set forth at the end of this report, but the most urgent steps are as follows: The Pakistan government should: • Extend current PoR cards until at least December 31, 2017 and review the PoR system to establish better procedures to avoid the stress and cost of periodic short- term renewals. • Issue a specific written directive instructing