Story highlights

• Sindh information minister says 129 female Afghan illegal immigrants jailed in Sindh, with 178 children as they are under the age of seven
• Detailed report has been sought about the number of children who are with their jailed mothers, says Salman Sufi
• Convicted immigrants are sent back to Afghanistan after serving two month’s sentence

There are no Afghan refugee children in Sindh jails,“ Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said on Friday as he rebuffed “rumours” about a crackdown against Afghan children in the province.

The “rumours” spread after photos of young Afghan children being held behind bars surfaced on social media in recent weeks with claims that they were rounded up in the crackdown against illegal Afghan immigrants in Karachi.

Memon told a press conference in Karachi that the government had “checked” every jail in the province after the pictures were uploaded to social media.

“These pictures are not from any of the jails in Sindh,” he said.

He said that the government had specifically checked Landhi juvenile prison and the women’s jail after photos appeared on social media. It was established that the images were not from these prisons, the minister said.

Sharjeel said that as many as 129 Afghan female illegal immigrants were jailed in the province with their 178 children, but insisted that the minors were not under arrest. “Our law says that if a child is less than seven years of age then they should be allowed to live with their mother. They are not kept as a prisoner. They are inmates.”

The information minister said that out of the total 129 Afghan women at least 75 were under trial and 54 had already been convicted and sentenced to two months in jail. “The provincial government on the advice of federal government will deport them after the sentence completes in January.”

He explained that illegal immigrants from Nigeria, Bangladesh, and other countries were also jailed in similar conditions across the country.

The information minister played a video of Afghan children studying and playing in a women’s jail in Karachi. Sharjeel invited media persons to visit the jail.

When asked about the flow of Afghan refugees from the border, he said that it was the duty of the officers to run the country under the ambit of the law.

He reiterated that no child was convicted and shared comments from the visiting delegation of the National Commission for Human Rights led by Chairperson Rabiya Javeri Agha.

“Excellent facilities and proactive approach,” he quoted Rabiya as saying in her comments.

Shortly after his press conference, Sharjeel also posted to Twitter a video of the early learning center in Karahi.

Rights activists visit prison

The onsite visit to Karachi Central Prison by National Commission of Human Rights Chairperson Rabiya Javeri Agha, Legal Aid CEO Barrister Haya Zahid, and others happened in early December.

Following the visit, the NCHR expressed concerns over the plight of Afghan inmates.

In response to Memon’s tweet about the early learning center and other facilities, Haya Zahid said that such facilities were not provided to Afghan children until early December when she and others visited the prison.

“Yes this is early learning centre run by sindh government in prison no doubt .Operational since 2015. The Afghan children should also have equal access to facilities such as this .as far as I know they weren’t being provided this opportunity earlier in December -glad it’s changed.”

NCHR in collaboration with Legal Aid Society has produced a report that says more than 500 Afghani women and children were being detained at the Central Jail, Karachi, the NCHR said in a tweet.

The NCHR chairperson’s Twitter timeline shows that she visited the Central Jail on December 9. “There are 219 children under 9 years at Central Jail Karachi,” she said in a tweet on December 10.

“A detailed report has been received about number of children who are with their jailed mothers charged with immigration violation/other crimes,” Salman Sufi, the head of prime minister’s strategic reforms, said on Thursday.

He added that a strategy was being developed with the interior ministry and provinces to change how they were in adult jails due to their dependence on their parents.

The UN Refugee Agency in Pakistan (UNHCR), in a statement on Thursday, expressed its concerns over images and reports of the arrest and detention of Afghan refugees It urged that the people should not be punished or criminalised for exercising their fundamental human right to seek asylum.

“Irrespective of their status, children and families should not be behind bars,” it said in a Twitter thread.

“We urge countries neighbouring Afghanistan including Pakistan to continue to protect those seeking safety, as they have done for decades.”