URGENT ACTION

EMIRATI AUTHORITIES UNLAWFULLY DEPORT PAKISTANI NATIONAL

On 22 June 2019, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) forcibly returned Rashid Hussain Brohi to Pakistan. Emirati security forces had taken him into custody on 27 October 2019 without an explanation. They held him incommunicado for seven months. Prior to moving to the UAE, Rashid was an activist in the Baloch National Movement in Pakistan. The deportation places his life in danger in Pakistan, due to his ethnicity, and is therefore an unlawful forced return.

NO FURTHER ACTION IS REQUESTED. MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO SENT APPEALS.

On 22 June 2019, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) deported Pakistani national and Balochi activist Rashid Hussain Brohi to Pakistan after seven months of incommunicado detention. His family has been unable to obtain information about his whereabouts in Pakistan, where his life is in danger due to his ethnicity. Rashid had moved to the UAE after members of his family and colleagues, all from the Balochi community, were killed in Pakistan between 2010 and 2016, in unexplained circumstances. Family members attribute their deaths to Pakistani security forces.

On 26 December 2018, two Emirati security forces detained Rashid Hussain Brohi on the E88 highway in Sharjah after they stopped his car. After that, he was only seen once, on 29 December, when armed security personnel brought him to his relatives’ home to search for his passport. Though Rashid’s family searched for him and made inquiries through official UAE channels, Emirati authorities did not disclose his location, reason for his arrest, or any charges against him. 

Amnesty International has reviewed official documentation confirming Rashid's deportation by the United Arab Emirates. 

Amnesty International condemns Rashid’s deportation by the UAE, which disregarded all legal safeguards, to a country where Rashid’s “life or freedom” are likely to “be threatened on account of his race, … membership of a particular social group [,] or political opinion” (Art. 33 of the 1951 Refugee Convention.) Forced returns of this nature are contrary to international law. 

Amnesty International had issued an Urgent Action on behalf of Rashid Hussain Brohi calling on the Emirati authorities to reveal Rashid Hussain’s whereabouts and ensure that refoulment contrary to international law does not occur. Amnesty International will continue to monitor Rashid Hussain Brohi’s situation and will respond to developments as appropriate. 

NAME AND PREFERRED PRONOUN: Rashid Hussain Brohi (he/ him)

THIS IS THE FIRST AND FINAL UPDATE FOR UA 22/19

LINK TO PREVIOUS UA: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde25/9880/2019/en/