Rawalpindi Police Form Special Unit to Detain Undocumented Afghan Migrants
In a continuation of Pakistan’s escalating crackdown on Afghan migrants, police in Rawalpindi have established a special unit comprised of multiple operational teams tasked with the daily detention of undocumented migrants and their transfer to temporary holding camps.
According to Pakistani media reports, the unit consists of 13 teams. Each team is made up of four police officers, a foot detective, and representatives from the counter-terrorism division, intelligence services, and field officers from the police special branch.
A senior Rawalpindi police official stated that earlier efforts to address the presence of undocumented migrants had failed to achieve the desired outcomes. Consequently, the focus has now shifted to a more organized implementation of daily operations by the newly formed teams.
Selected officers in this unit have been instructed to refrain from engaging in any non-related duties to ensure their full attention is directed toward apprehending Afghan migrants. A special form has also been introduced for logging arrests, which must be submitted to the central office by 9 PM each day.
These measures are part of a new wave of political and security pressure by Pakistan on Afghan migrants. While thousands of Afghan families have sought refuge in Pakistan—either forcibly or voluntarily—over the past decades, the lack of effective support from the Taliban administration, coupled with Pakistan’s increasingly harsh policies, has further deteriorated their already precarious situation.
