Pakistan: Investigate whereabouts of missing Afghans: Sayed Qasim Hashemi and Hamed Ehsas

Summary

Neither individual’s family has been able to reach them since and the police authorities have refused to register cases regarding their abduction. The circumstances raise concerns that they may have been subjected to enforced disappearance or arbitrary detention. Pakistani authorities have an obligation to investigate their disappearance and inform the families about their whereabouts and fate.

According to their families, the two men left together from Section F -7 in Islamabad on the evening of 4 July and shortly thereafter became unreachable. Their phones were switched off, and the vehicle they had been using was later located in Islamabad's D -12 area. Despite repeated efforts by relatives to seek assistance from the police and the courts, their families have received no clear and verifiable information about their fate and whereabouts.

The police have also refused to file a First Information Report. Sayed Qasim Hashemi and Hamed Ehsas ’ families worry that their loved ones may have been forcibly disappeared by the state authorities or deported to Afghanistan, where they face considerable threats from the de-facto Taliban authorities due to their work as journalists and artists. Both individuals were working on awareness-related work regarding the Afghanistan Security Forces prior to the Taliban’s return to power.

They fled Afghanistan immediately after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, fearing threats to their lives due to the nature of their work. I urge you and the government of Pakistan to: • Immediately take steps to disclose the fate and whereabouts of Sayed Qasim Hashemi and Hamed Ehsas; • Conduct a prompt, thorough, impartial, independent and transparent investigation into their disappearance, including examination of any possible involvement of state agents or individuals acting with state acquiescence. They filed their documents to register with the UNHCR soon after arrival .

Due to Pakistan’s increasing crackdown on refugees, the validity of all UNHCR-issued Proof of Registration cards has expired as of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers. Afghan nationals in Pakistan are face extremely precarious situations and are especially vulnerable to deportation since the implementation of the ‘Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan’ in October 2023. Between September 2023 and August 2026, a total of 2.4 million Afghan nationals has been returned to Afghanistan despite the risk they face upon return and in violation of the principle of non -refoulement under international human rights law.

In 2025, UNHCR noted that 110,000 Afghan refugees inside Pakistan have high-risk profiles with increased international protection needs, and specific or cumulative vulnerabilities that could qualify them for resettlement. Since the deportations have started, Afghan nationals, refugees and asylum seekers inside Pakistan have faced harassment, arbitrary detention and evictions across Pakistan. Pakistan does not have any law recognizing refugees nor is it a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which has meant that refugees inside the country have no legal framework and are thus vulnerable to arbitrary harassment by the Pakistani authorities.

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