Over 1500 Afghan refugees forcibly deported from Pakistan, Iran in single day

Kabul: Over 1,500 Afghan refugees were forcibly repatriated from Iran and Pakistan in a single day, according to Taliban official statement on Tuesday, local media reported.

Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat shared a report from the High Commission for Addressing Migrants’ Issues on X, which revealed that 320 families, comprising 1,579 people, returned to Afghanistan on Monday, Pajhwok Afghan News reported.

According to the report, Afghan refugees returned to Afghanistan through the Bahramcha in Helmand, Pul-i-Abresham in Nimroz, Spin Boldak in Kandahar, Torkham crossing in Nangarhar and Islam Qala crossing in Herat.

He further stated that 521 refugee families comprising 2,610 people were taken to their respective home areas while 306 families were provided humanitarian assistance. Telecommunication firms provided 397 SIM cards to Afghan refugees.

Fitrat reported that 2,349 Afghan refugees were forcibly repatriated from Pakistan and Iran on Sunday.

Earlier in November, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) revealed that Pakistan has detained a record number of Afghan migrants in 2025, with the highest number of arrests reported in Balochistan and Punjab provinces.

A new UNHCR report has revealed that the majority of arrests were made in Chagai and Quetta districts of Balochistan and Attock districts of Punjab, Afghanistan's leading news agency Khaama Press reported.

According to the agency, Pakistani authorities arrested 100,971 Afghans between January 1 and mid-November 2025, a record rise compared with about 9,000 arrests in 2024 and over 26,000 in 2023.

UNHCR said 76 per cent of those detained were Afghan Citizen Card holders or undocumented migrants, while the remaining 24 per cent possessed Proof of Registration cards.

The rise in detention of Afghan migrants comes after two government orders in 2025, which directed the removal of Afghan migrants from Islamabad and Rawalpindi and allowed police to arrest PoR-card holders.

Several humanitarian organisations have urged Pakistan to ensure that any returns are voluntary and in accordance with international obligations. They warned that mass expulsions cause instability along the Afghanistan border, where newly returned families often lack housing, employment and basic services.

IANS