In October 2023, Pakistan’s government announced a sweeping crackdown on undocumented migrants, ordering all “illegal foreigners” to leave the country or face forced deportation. The policy primarily targeted Afghan refugees, many of whom had lived in Pakistan for decades—some for their entire lives.
Since then, over 600,000 Afghans have been expelled, with authorities vowing to deport up to 3 million by the end of 2025. The mass exodus has created a humanitarian disaster, as families—including children born and raised in Pakistan—are forced into an Afghanistan they do not know, one struggling with economic collapse, Taliban rule, and no system to support returnees.
Then in January 2025, Pakistani authorities made a devastating new announcement: they would accelerate deportations, aiming to expel 3 million Afghans by year’s end. This included even those with legal status documents, as verification systems collapsed under the mass exodus.
A Homeland Without Hope
For those deported, return means no shelter, no jobs, and no schools. Children who once played cricket in Pakistani streets now wander Afghan cities, their dreams shattered by survival.
Ahmad, 12, pleads: “There is no football field, no cricket field. We played for a short while, but the bat broke. Build us a school… bring us toys.”
A Generation Forced into Labor
With no aid or education, children are now working just to eat. They haul garbage, shine shoes, and sell tea—anything to keep their families from starving.
- Saleem, 12, collects trash from pharmacies: “I earn 50 or 60 Afghanis a day. Sometimes 100. But it’s not enough. No food for tonight.”
- Nazir, 13, sells coffee on the streets: “I work all day. No school. Just work.”
Deported from Their Only Home
Many of the expelled had never set foot in Afghanistan before. Their “return” is not a homecoming—it’s exile.
Pakistan insists the deportations are about security and economy, but critics call it a heartless betrayal of refugees who fled war, only to be cast back into crisis.
Afghanistan Can’t Cope
The Taliban government, isolated and broke, has no plan for the returnees. Camps are overcrowded, jobs nonexistent, and children pay the highest price.
