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KABUL – Pakistan has stepped up its campaign to expel Afghan refugees, announcing the closure of all 54 Afghan refugee villages across the country, including settlements in Kohat where many families have lived for decades. The accelerated expulsions come amid heightened tensions with Afghanistan’s Taliban government, following border clashes earlier this month and a recent ceasefire agreement signed in Doha, Qatar, with follow-up talks scheduled in Istanbul on October 25.
Millions of Afghans, including those born in Pakistan, are now facing uncertainty. Allah Meer, 45, whose family fled Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979, says his extended family has called Pakistan home for generations. “How can I uproot everything when we were born here, lived here, married here, and buried our loved ones here?” he said.
The Pakistani government, citing security concerns, claims Afghan refugees may be linked to cross-border attacks, although Afghan officials deny these allegations. The drive to close refugee villages forms part of a broader campaign begun in late 2023 to push out what Islamabad calls “illegal foreigners.”
Since June 30, Pakistan has stopped renewing Proof of Registration (PoR) cards and invalidated existing ones, leaving 1.2 million cardholders, 737,000 Afghan Citizenship Card (ACC) holders, and 115,000 asylum seekers without recognized legal status. The PoR and ACC had previously allowed Afghans some freedom of movement, access to public services, and bank accounts.
Meer, a father of ten and a vocational training project coordinator for Afghan refugee children supported by the UNHCR, says the invalidation of his PoR card has left him and his family effectively “illegal in a country that I and my children call home.”
The UN refugee agency has expressed deep concern. “Many of those affected have lived here for years, and now fear for their future. Any return should be voluntary, gradual, and carried out with dignity and safety,” said Qaiser Khan Afridi, UNHCR spokesperson in Pakistan. He emphasized that Pakistan has a proud history of hospitality toward Afghan refugees and urged the government to consider exemptions for those with international protection needs.
The expulsion campaign follows multiple waves of Afghan migration to Pakistan, starting with the Soviet invasion in 1979, the Taliban’s initial rise in 1996, and the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. The Taliban’s return to power in 2021 prompted another exodus of 600,000 to 800,000 Afghans into Pakistan.
Families like Meer’s now face a dilemma: staying in Pakistan without legal recognition, returning to a homeland they barely know, or risking becoming political pawns amid tense Pakistan-Taliban relations. “We will be seen as Pakistanis in Afghanistan, as enemies there too,” Meer said.
As violence surges along the border and relations between Islamabad and Kabul remain strained, millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan are confronting one of the most precarious moments in the decades-long history of migration between the two neighbors.
