6,000 days and still no answers: World’s longest protest camp exposes Pakistan’s unending Baloch disappearances

It marks over sixteen years of ongoing demonstrations by the families of those who have been forcibly disappeared in Balochistan.

In his X page, Balucch said: "The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) protest camp has now crossed an unimaginable milestone - 6,000 days."

He said for more than sixteen years, this camp has stood as a symbol of courage, endurance, and the unbroken will of the families of Baloch enforced-disappearance victims.

"It is widely recognized as the longest-running protest camp in the world, yet the Pakistani state continues to ignore its demands," he said.

He further said: "The heart of this movement is Mama Qadeer Baloch, the vice chairman of the VBMP, whose life has become synonymous with the struggle for the safe release of Baloch missing persons. Today, Mama Qadeer is ill and resting at home, his frail health unable to carry the physical weight of protest as it once did. But his moral leadership remains unshaken."

Baluch said the camp began in Quetta in 2009, by the families of missing persons, at a time Mama Qadeer initiated a token hunger strike after his son, Jaleel Reki, was abducted by Pakistani forces, disappeared, and later found killed and dumped.

"That personal tragedy did not break him, it transformed him. Instead of mourning only his own loss, Mama Qadeer chose to become the voice of every Baloch family searching for their loved ones," he said.

He further said:" Over the years, the VBMP camp has moved between Quetta, Karachi, and Islamabad, shifting locations in harsh winters and during key political moments, but its message has remained constant. Despite the relentless weather, threats, harassment, and the silence of the state, the camp has never been closed. "