Photo credit: AMU TV
Figures released by the Taliban’s Refugee Return Commission have shown that at least 8,000 Afghan migrants were deported from Pakistan and Iran in a single day. It has added to the mounting pressure on communities struggling to absorb returnees.
The returns occurred through four major crossings: Torkham, Spin Boldak, Islam Qala and Silk Road. The commission said it registered and processed the arrivals, the majority of whom were entire families. Some came with children and the elderly.
This follows consecutive days of mass expulsions from Pakistan. Official data shows more than 20,000 Afghans were deported on November 11 and 12. It makes this week one of the most intensive waves of forced returns since Pakistan launched its campaigns against undocumented migrants in early October.
Pakistan’s government issued a deadline of November 1 for undocumented foreigners to leave voluntarily or face arrest and expulsion. Human rights groups have decried the campaign. They warned of unlawful detentions, intimidation, and family separations. Afghan journalists and activists in Pakistan have also faced growing threats of deportation.
Meanwhile, Pakistani officials have defended the crackdown as a matter of national security. But UN agencies and rights groups say it has already upended the lives of thousands. Many deportees fled war or persecution and now return to a country facing severe economic collapse, widespread poverty, and increasingly limited humanitarian assistance.
The UN says more than 1.7 million Afghans in Pakistan lack legal residency documents and are at risk of deportation. Tens have already been expelled in what could amount to the largest forced return of Afghans in decades.
