Over a Million Afghan Refugees Face Deportation in Pakistan

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ISLAMABAD — Since mid-September 2023, Pakistani authorities have forced out more than 400,000 Afghans to Afghanistan, deporting 20,000 of them. Police and other officials have carried out mass detentions, seized property and livestock, and destroyed identity documents to expel thousands of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers, reports say.

The deportation policy comes after Islamabad’s claim that Afghanistan-based militants are responsible for the increased cross-border attacks in the country. The Taliban government in Kabul has rejected this. 

Afghans make up almost all of the estimated 1.7 million foreigners in Pakistan. This includes Hazaras, a marginalized group of ethnic Mongolian and Central Asian descent, who have faced torture and executions in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power, according to Amnesty International.

Pakistan said its crackdown will not affect an estimated 1.4 million Afghans registered as refugees and living in Pakistan. However, fearing a dreaded return to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, thousands of undocumented Afghans have gone underground in Pakistan. Reports state that Pakistani officials have been charging Afghanis awaiting resettlement in the US, UK, and other countries an exit fee of $830.

A petition has been filed by human rights groups to stop the deportations of Pakistan-born Afghans and those who would be at risk if they returned to Afghanistan.

The United Nations and global human rights groups have also criticized the crackdown and urged Islamabad to urgently halt it, noting that Afghanistan suffers from a dire humanitarian crisis stemming from years of war and natural disasters.

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