ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan is home to more than 2.1 million Afghan refugees, with a majority residing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Qaiser Afridi, a UNHCR spokesperson in Pakistan, told Geo News that 52 percent of Afghan refugees in the country live in Peshawar. Pakistani authorities have ordered many to leave Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within the next three weeks as the country moves forward with its mass deportation plan.
Despite the April 1 deadline, Afghan refugees say police have already intensified crackdowns, detaining individuals whose visas have expired or are in the process of renewal.
“Our visa had expired by just two days, and we were in the process of renewing it,” said Maryam, an Afghan refugee in Pakistan. “They didn’t listen. They took us to Haji Camp [a detention center]. When we pleaded not to be deported because our lives were in danger, one of the officers demanded money instead. We had no choice but to pay the 60,000 Pakistani rupees they asked for.”
Heshmatullah, another Afghan refugee who has lived in Pakistan with his family for three years, was recently detained and said he had to pay a bribe to be released.
“They picked me up near my house this morning,” he said. “My visa had expired, but my family’s documents were still valid. They wanted to deport me, but first, they demanded a hefty sum of money. After much negotiation, I managed to reduce it to 50,000 rupees, and they let me go.”
Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior has ordered all undocumented Afghan migrants—including those holding Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC)—to leave the country by April 1. While Pakistani authorities say the deportation policy is part of broader efforts to regulate migration, human rights organizations warn that the process is forcing thousands into vulnerable conditions.
According to UNHCR, 1.3 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan are officially registered, but even those with documentation now face an uncertain future. The Pakistani government has announced plans to expel Afghan Citizen Card holders within the next three weeks.
Since mid-September 2023, more than 800,000 Afghan migrants have already been forced to return to Afghanistan, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). With Afghanistan struggling under an ongoing humanitarian crisis, returning refugees face significant challenges, including a lack of housing, employment, and access to basic services.
As the deportation deadline nears, Afghan refugees in Pakistan say they are trapped between the risk of arrest and the uncertainty of returning to a country still in turmoil.
