Afghan families wait to board buses to depart for their homeland, in Karachi, Pakistan on Oct. 30.
oniza Kakar, a Karachi-based human rights lawyer, has been representing Afghan refugees in Pakistan’s courts since July 2022. In recent months, though, she’s noted a sharp increase in her caseload—in Karachi alone, more than 1,500 Afghans have faced arrest since September, 80% of whom were legally registered refugees.
The decision poses wide-reaching consequences, but it is not the first time the country has tried to crack down on the rights of refugees, says Hameed Hakimi, associate fellow at the Asia-Pacific Programme and Europe Programme at Chatham House.
Afghan refugees arrive in trucks from Pakistan at the Afghanistan-Pakistan Torkham border in Nangarhar province on Oct. 30. Islamabad has issued an order to 1.7 million Afghans it says are living in the country illegally to leave by Nov. 1, or be deported.“These are families we have lived and struggled on both sides of the border. They have established their lives in Pakistan, they have their businesses and houses and their kids go to school there.
In December 2021, a group of U.N. experts urged Pakistan to withhold from expelling undocumented Afghans until the country’s political situation allowed for safe return—an outcome that is still out of reach for many, including journalists, activists, and former government officials that are being targeted by the Taliban.
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