Afghan Refugees Return Home Amid Pakistan's 'Final Warning' Before Arrest, Deportation

An Afghan girl living in Pakistan climbs a ladder onto a truck to begin her journey back to Afghanistan.

An Afghan family arrives at a repatriation center run by the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, in northwest Pakistan before they embark on their journey.

The United Nations estimates that 3.7 million Afghans reside in Pakistan, while Pakistani authorities believe the number to be as high as 4.4 million. Of these, just 1.4 million Afghans hold the required documentation enabling them to legally stay in Pakistan.

Afghans rest before embarking for Afghanistan.

 

Afghans wait to cross the Chaman border crossing. Millions of Afghans have sought refuge in neighboring Pakistan over several decades in one of the largest and lengthiest refugee crises in the world.

Afghans ride in the back of a truck.

Pakistan, as a larger and more economically stable neighbor, has offered employment and economic opportunities for Afghans fleeing decades of war and poverty. Since August 2021, their country has been ruled by Taliban militants.

Pakistan's order for “illegal” Afghan migrants to leave the country has left millions, including long-term residents and holders of valid documents, living in fear of being forcibly returned to the country they fled.

 

A growing chorus of governments, human rights groups, and NGOs have urged Pakistan to reverse its decision. Rights groups have said the mass deportations will put Afghans at great risk of retribution in their homeland.
 
The expulsion plan marks a new low in relations between the South Asian neighbors after border clashes in recent months.

An Afghan refugee family arrives at a repatriation center.

With millions of Afghans already living with food insecurity, the country's already dire humanitarian situation may worsen with the arrival of impoverished Afghans from Pakistan.