Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
Office of the Prime Minister
Islamabad, Pakistan

Your Excellency:

I am writing to express my concern about reports of illegal detention of Afghan refugee children in Pakistan.

In July 1996, thirty-six Afghan refugee children, some as young as 12 years old, were arrested in Pakistan for not possessing valid passports. All were placed in detention and held for up to 9 weeks. During this time they were locked in a cell for 22 hours a day until their parents could buy their release.

Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common occurrence in your country.

Since 1980 hundreds of thousands of families have fled civil war in Afghanistan, making the long, difficult trip to seek refuge in Pakistan, only to find that some must pay bribes to Pakistani guards just to get across the border. In the refugee camps, relief assistance, medical facilities and food are inadequate, and many Afghan families (especially widows with children) must constantly struggle to survive.

Moreover, Pakistani police routinely arrest Afghan refugees who do not have valid passports or visas. Those who cannot pay a bribe are usually jailed and must pay the police another bribe to obtain the documents; the cost of this is well beyond the means of most refugee families. Children are the main target of this harassment because the police know that their families will sell the few possessions they have to get their children released.

As a signatory to the 1989 U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, Pakistan has the obligation to comply with its provisions, namely: that the imprisonment of a child should be in conformity with the law and should only be used as a measure of last report and for the shortest period of time (Article 37(b)); and that states are obligated to take special care in dealing with the cases of refugee children.

I am sure you agree that mistreatment of children should not be tolerated in your country. To protect the rights of all children living within Pakistan's borders, please use your position to ensure that no Afghan refugee children are placed in detention in contravention of international standards.