KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Pakistan to stop the deportation of Afghan refugees, warning that returnees face persecution, economic hardship, and a collapsing healthcare system under Taliban rule.
In a report released on Wednesday, HRW said Pakistani authorities have intensified pressure on Afghan refugees through coercive tactics, forcing them to return despite the risks.
The rights group said the mass deportations could violate international laws, including the UN Convention Against Torture, which prohibits sending individuals to countries where they may face mistreatment.
HRW highlighted Afghanistan’s deteriorating human rights situation, particularly the restrictions imposed on women and girls. Many returnees, it said, are struggling with unemployment and the declining availability of humanitarian aid.
The report also warned that former security personnel, journalists, and activists are at significant risk, citing documented cases of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and killings.
Among them is Ahmad M., a former member of Afghanistan’s security forces, who fled to Pakistan after the Taliban returned to power but was deported in November 2023. He told HRW that he was arrested upon arrival.
“Every night, they told me: ‘We will kill you tonight,’ but they didn’t,” Ahmad said. “I was beaten in the National Directorate of Security prison. I was released after two months, but I know of so many colleagues who have been detained and disappeared.”
Elaine Pearson, HRW’s Asia director, called for an immediate halt to deportations. “Pakistani officials should immediately stop coercing Afghans to return home and give those facing expulsion the opportunity to seek protection,” she said. She also urged the Taliban to prevent reprisals against returnees and to reverse restrictive policies on women and girls.
Between September 2023 and January 2024, Pakistan deported over 800,000 Afghans, including many born in Pakistan or who had lived there for decades, according to HRW. The report said authorities intensified deportations from November 2024, with over 70% of returnees being women and children, including girls now barred from secondary education.
HRW documented cases of police raids, beatings, and arbitrary detentions in Pakistan. The UN has also reported that many Afghan returnees left out of fear of being detained.
One refugee, Zahra, described the situation in Islamabad. “They brought trucks and arrested people. If you don’t open the door, they will enter through the windows. They don’t care about children or the elderly,” she said, adding that some refugees with valid visas paid up to $400 to avoid arrest.
HRW called on refugee-hosting countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, and New Zealand, to speed up the resettlement of at-risk Afghans and reaffirm that Afghanistan is unsafe for returns.
“Afghanistan is not safe for any forced refugee returns,” Pearson said. “Countries that pledged to resettle at-risk Afghans should respond urgently to the situation in Pakistan.”
The rights group urged Pakistan to halt forced returns and extend refugee registration programs while calling on the Taliban to ease restrictions and provide returnees with identification documents.
