Islamabad, April 18 (IANS) Over 2,239 Afghans were deported via the Torkham border as Pakistan escalated the ongoing forceful deportation of Afghan refugees.
The mass repatriation on Thursday continued following the end of the March 31 deadline, as per local media reports.
“The deported refugees were residing in different districts of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Among those who came to the transit camp, 894 people were residing without documents, while 636 people were ACC card holders and 709 Afghans were transferred directly to the Torkham border from different districts of Punjab and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir,” said Khyber Deputy Commissioner Bilal Shahid speaking to The Express Tribune.
On Wednesday, Afghan Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, led a high-level delegation to Pakistan.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Minister underlined the importance of bilateral talks to develop effective solutions regarding the deportation of Afghan refugees.
He advocated for their voluntary repatriation following the standards set by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), ensuring that the process is safe and dignified, Afghan state-run Bakhtar News Agency reported
With the increasing wave of returning Afghan migrants from Pakistan, several migrants deported through the Torkham crossing recently said that they not only have no homes to live in, but they also do not own any land on which to build one.
“We ask that job opportunities be created for us. We have no homes, no land. All our belongings are left outside. There are no jobs, and no one has created employment for us. But our most urgent need is shelter.” Afghan media outlet TOLO News reported, quoting Mohammad Nabi, a deported migrant from Pakistan.
Several deported Afghan migrants also report that Pakistani police treated them harshly, extorted money under various pretexts during the journey, and acted aggressively. The forcibly deported Afghan refugees said that Pakistani drivers exploited their vulnerability, charging excessive transportation fares.
“The first time I was arrested, they took 20,000 rupees from me. Three days after releasing me, I went back home. I’m the head of my household—when I went shopping, they arrested me again and took another 20,000 rupees,” Afghan media reported, quoting Mohammad Eshan, a deportee from Pakistan, as saying.
Furthermore, Dad Mohammad, a 58-year-old resident of Kunar province, who had migrated to Pakistan 45 years ago, said that despite decades of work and settlement, he and his family were deported abruptly and empty-handed, in violation of migration principles.
“The Pakistani police raided my house, treated me harshly, and didn’t even give me a chance to take my belongings. Our motorcycles, cargo vehicle, and all our possessions were left behind. We barely had time to load the children into the vehicle and flee,” he recounted.
Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that between April 1 and 13 2025, IOM recorded a sharp rise in forced returns, with nearly 60,000 individuals crossing back into Afghanistan through the Torkham and Spin Boldak border points of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
IOM and its partners reiterated their call to immediately halt the forced returns of Afghans until conditions are in place to ensure safe, dignified, and voluntary returns, regardless of a person’s legal status.
–IANS
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