Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says an Afghan migrant woman suffered a miscarriage after Pakistani police raided her home and detained her husband, causing severe psychological distress and fear.
The organization, in a statement, called on the Pakistani government to halt the forced deportation of Afghan migrants and ensure their access to healthcare services.
MSF said fear of arrest and deportation has prevented many Afghan migrants in Pakistan from seeking medical care, worsening their health conditions.
The organization published the account of an Afghan migrant family in which Najib, the husband, said Pakistani police entered his home and detained him despite holding a Proof of Registration (PoR) card.
“My wife was three months pregnant when the police arrested me. When I was released and returned home the next day, she was still terrified. She told me that she had experienced heavy bleeding because of the stress and fear,” Najib told MSF.
According to Najib, following the incident, the family took his wife to a hospital despite fears of being arrested again. However, doctors were unable to prevent the miscarriage.
MSF said Afghan migrants in Pakistan are caught between the fear of arrest, loss of income and the risk of forced deportation.
The organization urged the Pakistani government to ensure that patients and people in need of medical care are not arrested or deported while travelling to or from healthcare facilities.
The statement also said that pressure caused by forced deportations has resulted in the loss of employment and income for migrants, contributing to rising malnutrition among children in these families.
According to MSF, after a healthcare center became operational in Quetta, Balochistan, it found that 7.6 percent of Afghan migrant women and children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition, while 25.7 percent were affected by moderate acute malnutrition.
Pakistan began a large-scale campaign to deport Afghan migrants in 2023 and has since returned more than 2.5 million Afghans to the country.
