ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has dramatically accelerated the deportation of Afghan refugees, creating a climate of fear and desperation through widespread police raids, the effective suspension of visa renewals, and a systematic campaign of harassment. This escalating crackdown threatens to forcibly return thousands to a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, where many face severe persecution or death.
The policy, which Pakistani authorities describe as a necessary measure for national security, has left a diverse cross-section of Afghan society in legal limbo. Those targeted include not only long-term economic migrants but also women’s rights activists, journalists, and thousands of Afghans who worked alongside U.S. and NATO forces—individuals now abandoned by the international system and trapped between a hostile host nation and a vengeful regime at home.
A Campaign of Raids and Arrests
In neighborhoods like the B-17 sector of Islamabad, the crackdown has turned daily life into a nightmare. Residents report that police conduct late-night and early-morning raids, detaining any Afghan unable to present valid documentation.
“We are exhausted. Every day, police come to our homes. Our visas have expired, and we have nowhere to go,” said a former interpreter for U.S. troops who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal. He is among the thousands awaiting resettlement in Western countries under special visa programs, but his legal status in Pakistan has collapsed while his application languishes. “We served the coalition, and now we are left with nothing but fear.”
The crisis is compounded by what refugees allege is a deliberate obstruction of the visa renewal process. Pakistani officials have effectively halted the issuance of extensions for the Afghan-specific Proof of Registration (PoR) cards and other visas, creating a catch-22 for the refugee population.
“The costs for renewal were already high, but now the process is entirely blocked,” said a former Afghan government employee now living in Islamabad. “They demand we show valid visas while simultaneously preventing us from getting them—it’s a deliberate trap to justify our arrest.”
Systemic Harassment and Extortion
Beyond formal raids, reports of systemic harassment and extortion are surging in major urban centers like Karachi, Peshawar, and Quetta. Afghan refugees describe being routinely stopped, searched, and verbally assaulted by police in public spaces and at checkpoints.
Several individuals have alleged that officers explicitly demand bribes—often equivalent to several months’ wages—to avoid immediate detention and deportation. Local rights groups have documented numerous cases of physical assault and arbitrary detention, with some individuals being deported despite having active asylum or resettlement applications with Western embassies and UNHCR.
“The environment has become toxic,” said a representative from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). “The state-sanctioned nature of this harassment has emboldened police and even private citizens to target Afghans with impunity.”
The Stakes: A Return to Taliban Rule
Human rights organizations have issued urgent warnings that Pakistan’s actions are violating the international principle of non-refoulement—the prohibition on returning refugees to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom.
“For many of these individuals, deportation to Afghanistan is not just an inconvenience; it is a potential death sentence,” said a spokesperson for Amnesty International. “We are talking about women’s rights defenders who defied the Taliban, journalists who reported on their atrocities, and former security personnel who fought against them. Their lives are in imminent danger.”
Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, they have systematically dismantled women’s rights, silenced dissent, and are widely reported to have carried out reprisal killings against former adversaries, despite announcing a general amnesty.
Pakistan’s Rationale and International Condemnation
The Pakistani government defends its actions as a response to escalating security concerns and domestic economic pressures. Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti recently stated that Afghans were involved in a significant percentage of recent terrorist attacks, a claim that refugee advocates argue collectively punishes an entire community for the actions of a few.
The crackdown also reflects deepening tensions with the Taliban regime over the cross-border presence of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP). Furthermore, with Pakistan’s economy in crisis, the estimated 1.7 million undocumented Afghans have become a convenient scapegoat for rising unemployment and resource scarcity.
In response, a coalition of international human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and the UN Refugee Agency, has called on Islamabad to immediately suspend the deportations.
“We urge the Government of Pakistan to continue its longstanding tradition of hosting Afghans in need of protection and to ensure that any future actions are consistent with international law,” a UNHCR statement read. They have called for the restoration of visa processing and the establishment of a fair mechanism to assess protection claims.
As police raids continue and the deadline for voluntary return passes, the situation grows increasingly dire. For the Afghan refugees caught in this geopolitical storm, the options are vanishing, leaving them in a perilous limbo with nowhere left to run.
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