Amid Pakistan’s Crackdown, Afghan Refugees Lose Hope

Ashok Ullah sold all his family’s belongings to be able to afford the journey to the Torkham border crossing. The 35-year-old from Jalalabad city in Afghanistan is one of the hundreds of thousands “unauthorized” Afghan refugees who have been asked to leave Pakistan or face mass arrests and deportations. 

“The police started harassing us recently and it was no longer possible to go to work without fear of being arrested,” Ullah told The Diplomat. “I do not want to go back but I am helpless. Afghanistan is my homeland, but the situation there is bad and it is the beginning of a harsh winter. We do not have a place to stay. 

“I am placing my trust in Allah and hoping that I can get a job and find a place to stay.”

In early October, Pakistan’s caretaker Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti announced a 28-day deadline for all “illegal immigrants” to leave the country or face mass arrests and deportations. Under the new order, and as of writing in late October, all undocumented immigrants must leave Pakistan by November 1.

Although Afghan refugees were not named directly, Bugti said the policy change was inspired by a wave of terrorist attacks in Pakistan. He made a point to note that of the 24 suicide bombing attacks conducted since January in the country, 14 were carried out by “Afghan nationals.” 

The narrative was challenged by Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Afghan Taliban. He took to X, formerly Twitter, to claim that “Afghan refugees are not involved in Pakistan’s security problems.” Mujahid added that the “behavior of Pakistan against Afghan refugees is unacceptable. The Pakistani side should reconsider its plan.”

The announcement received widespread criticism from human rights defenders and activists. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) posted on X that the decision “reflects not only an absence of compassion but also a myopic and narrow view of national security.” It urged the government to reverse the decision, which the HRCP called “unacceptable.” 

Relations between the Pakistan government and the Taliban regime have turned sour in the past two years. Islamabad has blamed the Taliban government for the resurgence of deadly Islamist militancy in Pakistan. In September, two separate suicide bombings on the same day in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, both bordering Afghanistan, killed almost 60 people. 

The decision to deport over 1 million Afghans is being seen as a direct response to Kabul’s refusal to help Islamabad stop cross-border terrorism.

“This is certainly a reactionary response, which has been taken to pressurize the Taliban government to cooperate against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),” said Abdul Basit, a researcher at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. “Rather than addressing our own security loopholes. which are constantly resulting in cross-border terrorist attacks, a lot of which are emanating from within Pakistan, the government is going after Afghan refugees.”

Basit added that repatriation should be voluntary. He pointed out that if the government uses brute force to crack down on refugees, relations with the Afghan Taliban would be further dented. 

The situation in Afghanistan remains grim since the Taliban came into power. They have enforced an oppressive regime, particularly for women and girls who do not have the right to work or education. The economy has cratered, with both unemployment and hunger skyrocketing. In October, Afghanistan also experienced its deadliest earthquake in decades, killing more than 3,000 people, further compounding matters for the starved nation. 

Qaiser Khan Afridi, spokesperson of the UNHCR, the United Nations’ refugee agency, said, “Afghanistan is going through a severe humanitarian crisis with several human rights challenges, particularly for women and girls.” In that context, the deportation plan “would have serious implications for all who have been forced to leave the country and may face serious protection risks upon return.”

Since the government’s announcement, approximately 19,500 undocumented Afghan refugees have left Pakistan via the Torkham border crossing, Fazal Rabi, director of the Solution Strategy Unit of the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees, told The Diplomat in late October.