Baloch expatriates protest in London and Amsterdam against Pakistani atrocities in Balochistan

According to reports on Saturday, the protesters carried banners, placards and pictures of missing persons, raising slogans against the grave human rights violations in Pakistan. “August 30 is International Missing Persons Day and this day is dedicated to stand up and speak out against this injustice,” Ibra Taj Baloch was quoted as saying in a Balochvarna news report. She said her father Mir Taj Mohammad Sarpara was abducted by the ISI on July 19, 2020, and is still in their custody four years later.

The gathering was also addressed by FBM Vice President Shahwazer Baloch, who said, “Today this protest is being held against the enforced disappearance of people in Balochistan, as thousands of Baloch have been abducted to Pakistan and Iran, causing severe hardships to their families.”

British activist Heather Jones, who took part in the protest, told Balochvarna News, “I am a common citizen and I have come here today to express my solidarity with the Baloch people against the heinous crime of enforced disappearances. I am very saddened to know that there is hardly a home in Balochistan that has not been affected by abductions.”

He also urged the British government to take a tough stand against the Pakistani authorities and made it clear that the genocide of the Baloch people is unacceptable and must be stopped immediately.

Members of the Free Balochistan Movement as well as a large number of Baloch residents living in Britain and British human rights activists also participated in the protests.

A similar protest was held in Amsterdam on the same day, focusing on the issue of enforced disappearances by Pakistani security forces. Members of the Baloch community and Pashtun human rights activist Zar Ali Khan Afridi also joined the protest.

Latif Baloch, who participated in the protest, called on international organisations to pay attention to the ongoing human rights violations in Balochistan and said that the mental and physical torture inflicted by the Pakistani Army on a daily basis is unacceptable and intolerable.

The report also said that Obaidullah Baloch, a member of the executive council of the Free Balochistan Movement, described Pakistan and Iran's occupation as the main source of human rights violations. He criticized Pakistan for exploiting Balochistan's resources while violating the rights of its people.

Pashtun activist Zar Ali Khan Afridi linked genocide of the Baloch and Pashtun communities to Pakistani military operations, and stressed the urgent need for international intervention to address and end these injustices.

The Free Balochistan Movement called on international organisations to hold Pakistan and Iran accountable and take immediate steps to protect the fundamental rights to freedom and sovereignty.