Pakistan Expels 1M Afghans as Relations with Taliban Collapse

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The decades-old role of Pakistan as a sanctuary for Afghans fleeing the relentless turmoil of their homeland is coming to a definitive and brutal end. In a sweeping policy shift fueled by escalating military clashes, political disillusionment, and a deepening economic crisis, Pakistani authorities have forcibly expelled approximately one million Afghan refugees this year alone.

According to a detailed report published on Sunday by The New York Times, this mass deportation campaign is driven by Islamabad's frustration with the Taliban government in Kabul, leading officials to label the entire Afghan community a "national security threat" and depriving millions of a safe haven they have relied on since the Soviet invasion of 1979.

The expulsion drive, which has intensified dramatically in recent months, is reshaping the demographic and social fabric of the region.

The New York Times reveals that of the three million Afghans residing in Pakistan, about one million have been deported or coerced into returning to a country many of them have never known.

These refugees are being sent back to an Afghanistan gripped by a severe humanitarian crisis, where jobs are non-existent and affordable housing is scarce. The crackdown is indiscriminate: Pakistan has vowed to expel all Afghans regardless of their immigration status or the dangers they might face upon return.

The human cost of this policy was vividly illustrated in scenes from the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city. Reporters observed four families, including a newborn infant just seven days old, loading their entire lives onto a truck.

Their possessions—bed frames, chickens, water jerrycans, and luggage—represented decades of existence in a country that has suddenly turned hostile. Saifuddin, one of the refugees preparing to leave, explained that the decision was made before the crackdown worsened.

"Even after 45 years here, this isn’t our land," he told The Times. "And we don’t have a single home in Afghanistan." His family had been spurred to action by announcements from mosque loudspeakers and police cars patrolling their slum, warning Afghans to leave.

This domestic purge is unfolding against a backdrop of violent cross-border conflict. Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have reached a boiling point, with Pakistan accusing the Taliban government of financing and sheltering militants of the resurgent Pakistani Taliban (TTP).

This group has staged regular attacks on security forces within Pakistan, including a suicide bombing this past week at a paramilitary headquarters in Peshawar that killed three officers.

In retaliation, Pakistan has launched airstrikes on Afghanistan’s major cities and border areas. On Tuesday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid accused Pakistan of killing 10 people in overnight air raids, a charge the Pakistani military denied. This spiral of violence has killed dozens this fall and pushed regional powers like Qatar, Turkey, Iran, and Russia to attempt mediation, with little success.

Pakistani officials have shifted their rhetoric significantly over the years. Once welcoming Afghans as "Islamic brethren" during the anti-Soviet jihad, the state now portrays them as "criminals," "drug peddlers," and "terrorists."

Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, spokesman for Pakistan’s armed forces, stated in an interview, "We have been welcoming and hosting them with open arms for decades. But a large number of Afghans are involved in criminal activities."

This sentiment has been operationalized into a dragnet that targets the most vulnerable.

Authorities have urged landlords to evict Afghan families and encouraged citizens to report them through a whistle-blower system. The United Nations refugee agency reports that Pakistan has arrested 12 times as many Afghans this year as in all of last year.

The crackdown is not unique to Pakistan; it mirrors a regional trend of closing doors.

Iran has deported more than 1.5 million Afghans this year, and Western nations are also tightening restrictions.

The Trump administration recently halted the processing of immigration applications from Afghanistan and announced a review of the status of Afghan asylum seekers in the U.S. following a shooting in Washington involving an Afghan national.

This global tightening leaves the refugees with fewer options than ever.

The impact of the expulsions is most severe on the poor. While wealthy Afghans have managed to bribe their way to visa renewals, laborers, mechanics, and those living in slums are being rounded up.

In Islamabad, police recently swept through a park to arrest hundreds of families living in a tent encampment. Mehrafzon Jalili, a 24-year-old former dentistry student whose father was an Afghan Army colonel killed by the Taliban, described the terror of the raid.

"We’re at the mercy of the Pakistani authorities," she said. Despite having a valid visa, she was detained, fearing deportation to a country where her family was targeted. "They will deport them. Who will ask?" she texted from detention.

Sanaa Alimia, a professor at Aga Khan University, described the scale of the repatriations as "brutal."

The expulsion of young Afghans, some 620,000 of whom are under the age of 15 and were born in Pakistan, threatens to create a generational legacy of bitterness.

"Expelled young Afghans will remember it for generations," warned researcher Saba Gul Khattak. As colorful trucks laden with families rumble toward the border, they carry not just refugees, but the wreckage of a relationship that once defined the region's stability.