The process of expelling Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan is proceeding rapidly and without an adequate humanitarian plan to accommodate the return of hundreds of thousands of people who are being forcibly returned to Afghanistan, with serious human rights violations reported.
According to Asht-e Sobh, the Bakhtar news agency reported that in the single week of Ghbargolai in the Afghan calendar, corresponding to the last days of May, 121 families arrived through Torkham, one of the most important and busiest entry points between Afghanistan and Pakistan, west of the historic Khyber Pass; 80 families through Spin Boldak (Kandahar border); 278 families through Wreshmin Pol, a small mountain pass; two families through Angor Ada (South Waziristan); 23 families through Bahramcha, in the remote Dishu district of southern Helmand province; and 515 families through Islam Qala, near the border with Iran, in the western part of Herat province.
The Taliban claimed to have assisted the repatriated families, but the situation is very serious.
According to the latest decision of the Pakistani government, approximately 800,000 refugees who have lived in that country for years and to whom Afghan registration cards (ACC) had been issued have been forcibly expelled from the country, and this process is still ongoing.
In a joint statement by many humanitarian organizations, the Pakistani government was asked to stop the expulsion of Afghan refugees, especially journalists, artists, writers, and women, who risk returning under the threat of the Taliban from whom they had fled in case of forced expulsion.
Since the end of 2023, Pakistan has actively promoted the return of Afghan refugees. This plan intensified in April of this year, with over 144,000 Afghans returning from Pakistan in April alone, including nearly 30,000 who were forcibly deported.
UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, states that in April alone, 280,000 Afghan refugees were expelled from Iran and Pakistan; together with the United Nations, various humanitarian organizations, many of which support journalists, have called on the international community to continue supporting Afghan refugees who are at risk.
According to an Al Jazeera report, which cites the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, most of the returnees have lost all their possessions and now face an uncertain future for their very survival.
The report states that Iran and Pakistan have hosted 5.25 million Afghan refugees for years, but in recent months both countries have faced their own economic and internal security crises. Naturally, behind the official issues, there are new reports and new underlying political agreements that involve dangerous deals with the Taliban regime and endanger the safety of millions of people, who risk seeing their very survival jeopardized.
Many Afghans in Pakistan and Iran report being pressured to leave, even before formal deportation orders, with continuous harassment, the inability to carry out any type of work, sudden and unwarranted arrests, although many Afghan refugees were traders and entrepreneurs who contributed in some way to the local economy, especially in Pakistan.
“Among those expelled, there are also people who, due to the expression of any opinion considered contrary to the Taliban ideology, risk arbitrary arrests, torture, imprisonment, and death,” according to UNHCR and USCIRF.
Unfortunately, daily news reports tragic stories of those who prefer to take their own lives rather than return to Afghanistan. On May 18th, a former pilot of the Afghan Air Force, Mohammad Amir Tawasoli, took his own life in Mashhad, Iran, after receiving an order to leave the country. Another tragedy that highlights the precarious situation of many Afghan refugees, particularly former military personnel, judges and lawyers, government staff, many of whom had been forced to flee to Iran after the Taliban’s return in 2021.
“Ethnic and religious minorities, human rights activists, and journalists also face increased threats upon their return,” humanitarian organizations state. The risk of returning to the open-air prison from which they had escaped is a devastating thought.
Furthermore, the suspension of humanitarian visas by the United States, Germany, Great Britain, and other countries has further placed Afghan refugees in the face of an uncertain and frightening fate.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, at least $60 million is needed to assist the returnees in terms of housing, cash assistance, health services, and food, also because this influx of people without anything adds to the millions of Afghans who are already facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in a country with a collapsing economy and no concrete prospects of visible change.
