Baloch activists urge Swiss govt to review decision on Brahumdagh Bugti's asylum application

The Baloch Republican Party (BRP) and the Baloch National Movement (BNM) held a protest outside the Switzerland Embassy in Berlin, here on Tuesday, to urge the Swiss Government to review its decision on Brahumdagh Bugti's, top Baloch leader and chief of BRP, application for a political asylum.

The Switzerland Government had, last month, rejected Bugti's application for a political asylum in the country after a long wait of seven years.

The protestors termed Switzerland's decision of denying a political asylum to Baloch leader Bugti and entry ban on Mehran Marri as unfair.

The protestors held the placards, which said, "#GrantBugtiAsylum and allow him to exercise his right to freedom of expression and freedom of movement."

"Today we are protesting in front of the Swiss Embassy in Berlin. Nawab Brahumdagh Bugti is a peaceful political leader, who is struggling for the basic rights of his people," Saif Baloch, a member of BRP, said.

"This whole world knows about Pakistan, which has a history of providing safe havens to the terrorists. We request the Swiss authorities to grant him political asylum on humanitarian grounds," he added.

"Switzerland should not trust bogus allegations against Brahumdagh Bugti and Mehran Marri," another placard said.

Earlier on Sunday, the BRP held a similar protest outside the Swiss embassy in London.

Mansoor Baloch, the president of the party's UK Chapter, said Switzerland should review its decision and should not overlook its code of neutrality, human rights laws and the western traditions.

Emphasising that Balochistan was facing a systematic genocide at the hands of the Pakistani state, Mansoor said denying asylum to Bugti, who happens to be the most influential voice against the Baloch genocide, added greatly to the state atrocities on Baloch people.

He mentioned that the Pakistan Army had also escalated its military operations and offensive across Balochistan including Dera Bugti, Makuran, Awaran and other regions.

The activists of the BNM and son of Baloch leader Mir Javed Mengal had also joined the protest.