 "Over 100,000 Afghans left Pakistan in a month after permit cancellations, government crackdown")
More than 100,000 Afghans have left Pakistan in April alone following the government’s latest crackdown on undocumented migrants, Pakistan’s interior ministry said Tuesday (April 22), amid growing tensions with Afghanistan’s Taliban government.
The mass departures began after Islamabad launched what it called a nationwide eviction drive on April 1, targeting Afghans living in the country without valid documentation. The campaign, announced alongside the cancellation of residence permits for hundreds of thousands of Afghans, has drawn criticism from international aid agencies and Afghan officials.
‘Terrorists and criminals’
“100,529 Afghans have left in April,” AFP cited the interior ministry as saying.
Pakistan’s government has defended the campaign as a national security measure, with officials branding Afghans as “terrorists and criminals.” Analysts say the move is partly aimed at pressuring the Taliban administration in Kabul, which Islamabad accuses of harbouring militants responsible for cross-border attacks— allegations the Taliban deny.
Afghan Prime Minister Hasan Akhund criticised the Pakistani campaign over the weekend, calling the forced returns “unilateral measures.” His comments came after Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar visited Kabul for talks aimed at easing tensions.
Akhund urged Pakistan to “facilitate the dignified return of Afghan refugees.”
Convoys of Afghan families, many of whom have lived in Pakistan for generations, have been making the journey back across the border, heading into a country already overwhelmed by a humanitarian crisis.
“I was born in Pakistan and have never been to Afghanistan,” said 27-year-old Allah Rahman, speaking from the Torkham border crossing. “I was afraid the police might humiliate me and my family. Now we’re heading back to Afghanistan out of sheer helplessness.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said arrests and detentions of Afghans surged in April, with 12,948 cases reported — more than the total for all of 2023. Many Afghans in Pakistan have reported weeks of harassment, extortion, and arbitrary arrests, particularly in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab.
Though some are leaving voluntarily to avoid deportation, human rights groups have raised concerns about the treatment of returnees, especially women and children. The UNHCR said that more than half of those deported in recent weeks were minors. Women and girls returning to Afghanistan face bans on education beyond secondary school and are restricted from working in many sectors.
Pakistan is facing growing security pressures along its western frontier. The military is battling insurgents in the southwestern province of Balochistan and in the northwest, where groups affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban have increased attacks. Last year was Pakistan’s deadliest in a decade, prompting renewed focus on border control.
A shift in public sentiment
Millions of Afghans have fled to Pakistan over the past four decades, escaping wars and instability, with a fresh wave arriving after the Taliban returned to power in 2021. But with Pakistan’s economy under strain, public sentiment toward the refugee population has shifted.
“They came here for refuge but ended up taking jobs, opening businesses,” said Tanveer Ahmad, a 41-year-old barber in Islamabad. “They took jobs from Pakistanis who are already struggling.”
As part of the campaign’s second phase, Pakistan’s government has cancelled the residence permits of more than 800,000 Afghans and warned thousands more — including those awaiting resettlement in third countries — to leave by the end of April.
A shopkeeper in Karachi, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “Afghans take on jobs Pakistanis consider shameful, like collecting garbage. Who will do that after they’re gone?”
With inputs from AFP
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
