Afghan girl made famous by National Geographic photo refused bail by Pakistani court

The Pakistan government has stepped up its crackdown on Afghan refugees living in the country

The image of Ms Gula in a refugee camp became emblematic of Afghanistan's suffering after it featured on the front cover of the National Geographic magazine

A Pakistani court has refused bail to an Afghan woman famed for appearing on a National Geographic cover and who had been arrested for living in the country illegally.

The image of Sharbat Gula in a Pakistan refugee camp became emblematic of Afghanistan’s suffering during the 1980s, as the country was caught between Soviet occupation and a US-backed mujahideen insurgency against it.

Ms Gula, now in her 40s, has been held in jail since her arrest on Wednesday after the Federation Investigation Agency (FIA) accused her of possessing fake documents following a two-year investigation into her and her husband, who has now absconded.

The special court for anti-corruption and immigration in Peshawar denied Ms Gula bail on the grounds her application to be freed did not contain any legal arguments and emphasised only humanitarian reasons for her release.

“During her illegal stay in Pakistan, she twice misused her position by obtaining a Pakistani Computerised National Identity Card,” said Judge Farah Jamshed.

Prior to the bail hearing there were indications she would be released and Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, said her case should be reviewed “because she is a woman and we should see it from a humanitarian angle.”

Mr Khan added: “As a first step the FIA should arrange her bail as soon as possible so that she should get of jail.”

But a judge in Peshawar rejected bail for Ms Gula, saying she had failed to make her case after “impersonating herself as Pakistani citizen without legally adopting the status of same."

If she is convicted of fraud Ms Gula faces up to 14 years in prison, although it is more common for refugees from Afghanistan to be deported rather than serve jail time.

Afghanistan's ambassador in Pakistan, Omar Zakhilwal, said the verdict contradicted government promises to release her and called on the Prime Minister to intervene.

"Despite being world famous, Sharbat Gula is a poor widow and the sole head of her family," Mr Zakhilwal said in a statement.

”I call on the Honorable Prime Minister of Pakistan, to whom I will also send a formal request, to intervene.”

For decades Pakistan has provided safe haven for millions of Afghans who fled their country after the Soviet invasion of 1979, hosting up to 1.4 million Afghan refugees, according to UNHCR, making it the third-largest refugee hosting nation in the world.

But the government has stepped up its crackdown on Afghan refugees, insisting that many attacks in the country had links with Afghanistan and therefore the refugees must now go home.

According to the UNHCR more than 350,000 Afghans, documented and undocumented, have returned from Pakistan so far this year, and a further 450,000 are expected to do so by the end of 2016.