Crackdown in Pakistan: Afghan Refugees Report Surge in Police Abuse Amidst Rising Border Tensions

ISLAMABAD/QUETTA – A wave of fear is sweeping through Afghanistan’s refugee communities in Pakistan, as reports of police harassment, mass arrests, and forced evictions have sharply intensified following a recent escalation of border tensions between Islamabad and the Taliban government.

Refugees and rights organizations allege that a coordinated crackdown is underway, targeting both documented and undocumented Afghans and creating an atmosphere of acute uncertainty for hundreds of thousands who sought sanctuary in Pakistan.

The situation escalated dramatically after last week’s cross-border skirmishes and Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Khost and Paktika provinces. In response, Pakistani authorities have launched a stringent campaign, ordering landlords to evict Afghan tenants without valid visas and conducting aggressive door-to-door searches in neighborhoods with high refugee populations.

“We Have Nowhere to Go”

For refugees like Rahimullah, a former Afghan army officer living in Rawalpindi, the new reality is a desperate struggle for survival. “Last night my landlord told me to vacate the house immediately because we don’t have visas,” he told Radio Azadi, his voice heavy with anxiety. “Police patrols have increased, and landlords are forcing Afghans out everywhere. We are being punished for a conflict we have no part in. We have nowhere to go.”

His sentiment is echoed in major urban centers like Quetta and Peshawar, where Afghan communities have existed for decades. Disturbing videos circulating on social media, reportedly from Quetta’s Hazara Town district, show Pakistani police using large trucks to round up dozens of Afghan men. Local residents confirm that police are conducting raids, checking shops and homes, and detaining individuals based on suspicion alone.

“The reality on the ground is worse than what is seen online,” said Tayeba Hussaini, a Quetta resident. She described a city under a de facto siege for its Afghan population, with authorities blocking roads and “detaining anyone suspected of being an undocumented Afghan.”

A Official Policy of “Voluntary Return”

The street-level crackdown is mirrored by a hardening of official rhetoric and policy. Pakistan’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, recently stated that the “situation in Afghanistan has changed,” and that the stay of Afghan refugees in Pakistan “must come to an end.”

A government directive issued last week announced the closure of ten Afghan refugee camps and ordered that their assets be transferred to state control, signaling a move away from the long-standing, albeit strained, policy of hospitality.

This aligns with Pakistan’s ongoing “Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan,” which it describes as an effort to document and humanely return those without legal status. However, rights groups argue the implementation is anything but humane.

“What we are witnessing is not a structured repatriation process but a campaign of intimidation that often fails to distinguish between documented refugees, those with asylum-seeking claims, and undocumented migrants,” said Saman Hamid, a director at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. “This creates a high risk of refoulement—forcibly returning people to a country where they may face persecution.”

A Deepening Humanitarian Crisis

The current crisis has its roots in the chaotic collapse of the Afghan Republic in 2021, which prompted a new exodus of millions fleeing Taliban rule, economic collapse, and the systematic denial of education and work for women and girls. Many of these recent arrivals remain in legal limbo, awaiting resettlement to third countries.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that over two million Afghans have been returned from Iran and Pakistan in 2025 alone. This massive influx is placing an unbearable strain on Afghanistan’s shattered economy and limited humanitarian resources, where international aid has been drastically reduced.

“For those deported, they return to a country in the grip of a severe humanitarian crisis, with a collapsing healthcare system and widespread hunger,” said a UNHCR official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The compounding effect of forced returns could be catastrophic.”

Appeals for Intervention and Protection

Facing an uncertain future, Afghan refugee communities are urgently appealing to the Pakistani government and international bodies like the UN for protection. They are calling for an immediate end to the police abuse, a halt to forced evictions, and an extension of their visas and Proof of Registration (POR) cards.

“The world must not look away,” said Rahimullah from Rawalpindi. “We fled one danger only to find another. We need safety, not scapegoating.”

As border tensions simmer, the plight of Afghan refugees in Pakistan highlights a grim reality: they have become pawns in a deteriorating geopolitical standoff, with their fundamental rights and safety hanging in the balance. Rights groups continue to urge for urgent dialogue and a rights-based approach to avert a full-scale humanitarian disaster.

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