Since April, more than 200, 000 Afghans have left Pakistan as Islamabad has increased its imprisonment campaign against illegal immigrants, with Iran even increasing expulsions, raising questions about Afghanistan’s ability to handle the flood. More than 3,000 Afghans left the country in April, according to Pakistan’s government of interior, followed by 67, 000 in May, and more than 3 000 in the first two weeks of June. Over one million Afghans have now been returned from Pakistan as a result of the relocation travel, which started in November 2023, according to news organization ANI, citing ARY News. More than 800, 000 Afghans whose citizenship papers have been revoked are the target of the deportation plan. Among them are people who were born or raised in Pakistan. Afghan nationals have been accused of links to violence by Islamabad, and Kabul has been blamed for keeping militants in Kabul, a charge that the Taliban have repeatedly refuted. According to AFP, Farmer Mohammad Wali, who entered Afghanistan via the southeastern Spin Boldak borders, said,” We left our trees, but we said to ourselves,” If we stay, maybe we’ll lose our respect.” The speed of returns has significantly slowed as Eid al-Adha approaches, but crossings continue every day. In the meantime, Iran is moving forward with similar actions. In May, the UN’s International Organization for Migration ( IOM) reported 15, 675 deportations of Afghans from Iran, more than twice as many as in April. The IOM expressed concern over the rising trend of people returning rather than single men, calling it” a novel and concerning craze” and citing a “new and concerning craze” that Egyptian authorities had ordered Afghans without documentation to depart by July 6 ( as many as four million people, according to AFP). Since January, more than 450, 000 Afghans have now come home from Iran. Thousands of Afghan refugees who have fled years of conflict are a refuge in both countries. However, the public’s help for Afghan immigrants has declined as the economy worsens and social conflicts rise. By the end of June, Pakistan, which also holds around three million Afghans, has also warned that it may revoke the refugee accounts that were issued by UNHCR to 1.3 million users. The Taliban specialists, who are still unrecognised abroad, have echoed the call, requesting that returns be made in a “dignified” fashion, in response to the IOM’s repeated requests to “immediately dismiss the forced transfer of Afghans.” According to experts, Pakistan’s deportation policies are socially motivated, in particular. In addition to border regions plagued by rebellions, Islamabad is under increasing pressure to handle home security risks. Rights groups and philanthropic organizations but warn that Afghanistan’s already delicate infrastructure is insufficient to handle such a large and unexpected population return.
