KARACHI: The countdown to Pakistan’s November 1 deadline for undocumented migrants to leave the country intensified as Afghan nationals faced the dilemma of returning to their homeland.
Muhammad Rahim, a 35-year-old Afghan national who had spent his entire life in Pakistan, expressed the sentiment shared by many in his situation: “We’d live here our whole life if they didn’t send us back.” His life in Pakistan included marriage to a Pakistani woman and raising children in the port city, yet he lacked Pakistani identity documents.
The Afghan border witnessed a significant surge in returnees. The Taliban government in Afghanistan reported that approximately 60,000 Afghans returned from Pakistan between September 23 and October 22. Recent daily returnee figures were three times higher than the norm, emphasizing the urgency and scale of the exodus.
Near Karachi’s Sohrab Goth area, home to one of Pakistan’s largest Afghan settlements, bus services adapted to meet the soaring demand. Bus operators, such as Azizullah, had to increase their services to manage the influx. In the face of this imminent upheaval, bus lines formed as Afghan nationals sought to leave before the deadline.
The looming threat of expulsion had devastating consequences. Families were torn apart, and even Afghans with valid documentation faced state-backed harassment, exacerbating the climate of fear and desperation. The Pakistani Interior Ministry’s silence on the matter left many questions unanswered.
The fear of being forcibly expelled from Pakistan, where they had established lives, compelled many Afghans to return to Afghanistan. While Pakistan vowed to treat Afghans with legal status respectfully, migrant advocates reported that those with proper documents were still vulnerable to targeting and harassment. The situation grew direr as documented Afghans left Pakistan, with the UNHCR recording over 14,700 departures by October 18, 2023, double the previous year’s figure. A staggering 78 percent of recent returnees cited fear of arrest in Pakistan as the reason for their departure.
Among the Afghan migrants in Pakistan, more than 2.2 million held some form of documentation recognized by the government, granting temporary residence rights. Approximately 1.4 million possessed Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, which had expired on June 30, leaving them in a vulnerable position. Although Islamabad assured that it wouldn’t take action against those with invalid cards, reports of increased police harassment contradicted these claims.
For many Afghans with legal status, the fear of separation from family members without proper documentation was a compelling reason to leave. Hajira, a 42-year-old widow, exemplified this situation. She had the right to remain in Pakistan, as did two of her four sons, but the other two lacked this privilege. To prevent separation, she planned to leave with her sons and their families before the deadline expired.
The increasing number of returning migrants and refugees exerted additional pressure on already strained resources in Afghanistan. The nation grappled with international sanctions on the banking sector and reduced foreign aid following the Taliban’s return to power. The Afghan Ministry of Refugees aimed to register returnees and house them in temporary camps, while the Taliban administration pledged to seek employment opportunities for returnees. Despite these efforts, Afghanistan’s challenges persisted, with the unemployment rate doubling and around two-thirds of the population in need of humanitarian aid.
For young Afghans like 18-year-old Muhammad, the impending return to Afghanistan was marked by uncertainty and the abandonment of the only home they knew. The intersection of these struggles painted a stark picture of the profound impact of Pakistan’s deportation policy on Afghan migrants and their uncertain futures.
