QUETTA: The National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) has called for repatriation of Afghan refugees back to their country because they are creating problems for Pakistan and disturbing its system.

The commission urged the government to pay special attention to removing sense of deprivation among people of Balochistan by protecting their rights.

This was the crux of a consultative workshop on “Development of Redress and Coordination Mechanisms in Balochistan” held here on Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion, NHCR Chairman retired Justice Ali Nawaz Chohan urged the federal government to pay heed to problems being reported from Balochistan, particularly those pertaining to human rights violations.

Jelvas Musau, Senior Protection Officer of the United Nations High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR), said that his organisation was thankful to Pakistan for allowing Afghan refugees to stay here. But the government should also ensure that problems of the refugees are solved and their rights are protected.

He said that the UNHCR wanted the NCHR to play its due role in this regard and added that his organisation would cooperate with the commission in this connection.

He said that the UNHCR was spending remarkable funds for improvement of health and education sectors in the areas hosting Afghan refugees.

Responding to points raised by the UNHCR official, Justice Chohan said that Afghan refugees had been living in Pakistan for decades. But their presence had created several problems for Pakistan and they had become a burden on the national economy, he added.

Referring to the demand for permission to Afghan refugees to take up jobs in Pakistan, he said that the government had the mandate under the international refugee law to take any decision in this regard.

Chairman of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons Mama Qadeer and Vice Chairman Nasrullah Baloch alleged that security forces were involved in ‘enforced disappearance of political activists and innocent people’.

They claimed that the Balochistan government had admitted that 10,000 people had been arrested by law enforcement agencies over the past several years.

Justice Chohan asked the two human rights activists to submit evidence of alleged disappearance of people, arrest of women and dumping of decomposed bodies by security forces to the NCHR to help it play its due role in this regard.

He said that the NCHR strongly condemned any wrongdoings in Balochistan and urged the state organs to act within the constitutional and legal framework.

Mama Qadeer alleged that in the past, the brother of the then chief minister was involved in kidnapping people for ransom and now the brother of a top personality in the Balochistan government was behind abduction of doctors and other people for ransom.

The NCHR chairman asked Mama Qadeer to record his statement at the commission office so that it could initiate proceedings.

Fazila Aaliani, an NCHR member, said that people of Balochistan had the right to elect their representatives of their own choice. She stressed the need for breaking the nexus of “mulla, tribal chief and the informer”.

She said that the NCHR would continue to strive for protection of rights of people of Balochistan.

Former provincial chief secretary Hakim Baloch said that the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, had said that everyone whether he was Muslim, Hindu or Christian had equal rights as a citizen of Pakistan.

He said that rights of Balochistan people would be protected only when the constitution and law were implemented in letter and spirit and supremacy of parliament was ensured.

Hakim Baloch proposed that Balochistan should be granted autonomy.

The NCHR chairman responded by saying that the commission was with those people who were seeking their rights.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2016