KARACHI: Convoys of Afghans pressured to leave Pakistan are driving to the border, fearing the “humiliation” of arrest, as the government’s crackdown on migrants sees widespread public support.
Islamabad wants to deport 800,000 Afghans after canceling their residence permits — the second phase of a deportation program which has already pushed out around 800,000 undocumented Afghans since 2023.
According to the UN refugee agency, more than 24,665 Afghans have left Pakistan since April 1, 10,741 of whom were deported.
“People say the police will come and carry out raids. That is the fear. Everyone is worried about that,” Rahmat Ullah, an Afghan migrant in the megacity Karachi told AFP.
“For a man with a family, nothing is worse than seeing the police take his women from his home. Can anything be more humiliating than this? It would be better if they just killed us instead,” added Nizam Gull, as he backed his belongings and prepared to return to Afghanistan.
Abdul Shah Bukhari, a community leader in one of the largest informal Afghan settlements in the coastal city, has watched multiple buses leave daily for the Afghan border, about 700 kilometers away.
The maze of makeshift homes has grown over decades with the arrival of families fleeing successive wars in Afghanistan. But now, he said “people are leaving voluntarily.”
“What is the need to cause distress or harassment?” said Bukhari.
Ghulam Hazrat, a truck driver, said he reached the Chaman border crossing with Afghanistan after days of police harassment in Karachi.
“We had to leave behind our home. We were being harassed every day.”
In Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on the Afghan border, police climb mosque minarets to order Afghans to leave: “The stay of Afghan nationals in Pakistan has expired. They are requested to return to Afghanistan voluntarily.”
Police warnings are not only aimed at Afghans, but also at Pakistani landlords.
“Two police officers came to my house on Sunday and told me that if there are any Afghan nationals living here they should be evicted,” Farhan Ahmad told AFP.
Human Rights Watch has slammed “abusive tactics” used to pressure Afghans to return to their country, “where they risk persecution by the Taliban and face dire economic conditions.”
In September 2023, hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans poured across the border into Afghanistan in the days leading up to a deadline to leave, after weeks of police raids and the demolition of homes.
After decades of hosting millions of Afghan refugees, there is widespread support among the Pakistani public for the deportations.
“They eat here, live here, but are against us. Terrorism is coming from there (Afghanistan), and they should leave; that is their country. We did a lot for them,” Pervaiz Akhtar, a university teacher, told AFP at a market in the capital Islamabad.
“Come with a valid visa, and then come and do business with us,” said Muhammad Shafiq, a 55-year-old businessman.
His views echo the Pakistani government, which for months has blamed rising violence in the border regions on “Afghan-backed perpetrators” and argued that the country can no longer support such a large migrant population.
However, analysts have said the deportation drive is political.
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have soured since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
“The timing and manner of their deportation indicates it is part of Pakistan’s policy of mounting pressure on the Taliban,” Maleeha Lodhi, the former permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN told AFP.
“This should have been done in a humane, voluntary and gradual way.”
Pressure builds on Afghans fearing arrest in Pakistan
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Pressure builds on Afghans fearing arrest in Pakistan
- According to the UN refugee agency, more than 24,665 Afghans have left Pakistan since April 1, 10,741 of whom were deported
Zimbabwe frees nearly 4,000 inmates
- A total of 4,305 — including 223 women — will eventually be released, Ziyambi said, with the scheme “focusing on vulnerable groups and those who have demonstrated significant progress in their rehabilitation”
HARARE: Zimbabwe on Monday began releasing nearly 4,000 inmates who were granted presidential amnesty in a bid to ease overcrowding in prisons.
The Cabinet announced the amnesty in February on the same day it approved sweeping changes to the constitution as part of a plan to extend 83-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term till 2030.
“The nation should note that the release of the 3,978 beneficiaries begins today,” Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said at a press conference in the capital Harare.
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The Cabinet announced the amnesty in February on the same day it approved sweeping changes to the constitution.
Zimbabwe’s prisons held just over 24,000 inmates in the second quarter of 2025, according to recent available national data.
A total of 4,305 — including 223 women — will eventually be released, Ziyambi said, with the scheme “focusing on vulnerable groups and those who have demonstrated significant progress in their rehabilitation.”
Among those freed was 23-year-old Tendai Chitsika, who had been serving a six-month sentence for theft and was only two months away from completing it.
“It was a learning curve for me. I’m a changed person and I promise to do good out there,” he said at Harare Central Prison, adding: “I want to thank the president for this opportunity.”
In the yard, hundreds of inmates sat divided into two groups. On one side were those still in their orange prison uniforms, destined to remain behind. On the other, men who had already changed into civilian clothes waited to be processed for release and return home.
Some broke into chants of “Mnangagwa huchi,” which loosely translated means “Mnangagwa is honey,” while one prisoner held aloft a banner bearing the president’s face.
The presidential amnesty “reflects a profound commitment to restorative justice, national compassion and the strategic decongestion of correctional facilities,” Ziyambi said.
The scheme did not include prisoners convicted of severe crimes such as murder, robbery, rape or “contravention of the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act” — a charge that has been used in the past against protesters and political opposition.
The southern African country has been stirred since last year by rising anger against Mnangagwa and his ruling Zanu-PF party, with leading opposition figures denouncing a constitutional “coup” after the constitutional amendments approved by the Cabinet last month.
The amendments — which still need to pass parliament, weighted in favor of the Zanu-PF — include extending the presidential term to seven years and scrapping general presidential elections by giving parliament the power to choose the president.
