Pakistan is preparing to return thousands of Afghan nationals who have been waiting for resettlement to the United States, Pakistani media reported, raising fears among refugees who say they face serious security risks if sent back to Afghanistan.
The reports say the move could affect nearly 20,000 Afghans who entered Pakistan after the Taliban took power in 2021 and have since been awaiting transfer to the United States under various migration programs.
Some Afghan refugees in Pakistan holding US immigration cases said returning to Afghanistan would expose them to grave dangers and harsh living conditions.
“We have been in Pakistan with our family since 2022. All stages of our case were completed, and we were waiting for our flight, but it was cancelled,” said one Afghan applicant for US resettlement, who asked not to be named for security reasons. “There has been no cooperation from either the US or Pakistan. Now we are facing the risk of forced deportation.”
Another Afghan refugee said her husband had worked with US forces for six years and that the family’s documents had been fully vetted.
“We are stuck. We cannot go back to Afghanistan, we cannot go to the United States, and we are not allowed to stay in Pakistan,” she said. “If returning to Afghanistan were safe, we would never have endured this humiliation.”
The reports come amid growing uncertainty over Afghan migration cases as the United States has remained largely silent on the status of pending applications. According to the reports, the US Congress approved no new visas for the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program in the 2026 budget, effectively halting new admissions.
A US Senate Homeland Security Committee oversight hearing on border and immigration agencies is scheduled for Feb. 12, 2026. Advocacy group Afghan Evac said a parallel informal meeting involving human rights activists and US military veterans would be held in Washington on the same day.
Pakistani officials had previously said around 20,000 Afghan cases were still under review when US President Donald Trump suspended resettlement processing.
Following a shooting incident in Washington involving Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national, Trump ordered a review of Afghan migration cases, leading to the suspension of Afghan and several other countries’ resettlement programs, the reports said.
Pakistan has in recent years stepped up arrests and deportations of undocumented Afghans, citing security and economic pressures, a policy that has drawn criticism from rights groups.
