TORKHAM, Pakistan: At Torkham, the busiest border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, long queues of Afghan families wait with carts, trucks and bundles of belongings.

Many have lived in Pakistan for decades but now they are going back — not by choice, but because of an ongoing campaign to expel undocumented foreigners.

In 2023, Pakistan announced that all undocumented migrants, most of them Afghans, had to leave by Nov. 1 that year or face arrest and deportation. Authorities cited security concerns, linking militants to cross-border havens, and said Afghan refugees had for decades put a drain on scarce economic resources. Human rights groups have criticized the deportation policy as collective punishment, warning it would uproot families with no safety net across the border.

Government figures say about 1.3 million Afghans have returned since November 2023 under the policy. UN agencies estimate hundreds of thousands more could be affected as the crackdown continues.

Among those forced to return is Saeed Khan, who says the expulsions have devastated his family’s future.

“My younger brother studied at an engineering university here [in Pakistan] and my younger sister has just passed her matric exam. Another boy in our family learned the Qur’an,” Khan said. 

“All of them have been cut off from their studies. Female education is already banned in Afghanistan. My brother’s life is destroyed, and we also had to abandon our small business in Pakistan.”

Ghazi, another returnee, said his family had lost everything: 

“They forced us out, and we had to sell our cattle, sheep, goats and cows at very low prices. Now vehicle rent has gone up from about Rs100,000 [$360] to nearly Rs500,000 [$1,800]. We have suffered heavy losses.”

For Jan Mohammad, who grew up in Pakistan, returning feels like exile to a homeland he never knew.

“Logar Province [in Afghanistan] is the birthplace of my father and grandfather. I was very young when we went to Pakistan, and until now I had never come back here,” he said. 

“If we are given assistance and a place where we can build a house or set up our tent and continue our life, it would help us.”

Pakistan has hosted Afghans since the Soviet invasion in 1979, at times sheltering more than three million. The numbers swelled again after the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021, when tens of thousands fled to Pakistan, further straining resources and legal frameworks.

Many still hold temporary documentation like Proof of Registration cards or Afghan Citizen Cards. But those without, or whose papers have expired, are most vulnerable. 

International agencies have warned that Afghanistan, already struggling with economic collapse and restrictions on women’s rights since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, is ill-equipped to absorb such large numbers.

Islamabad insists the deportations are a sovereign right and necessary for security, saying they apply to all undocumented foreigners, not only Afghans.

Kabul has urged Pakistan to reconsider, while rights groups have appealed for protection against forced returns, citing international obligations under the principle of non-refoulement. The UN Refugee Agency has called for a halt to deportations and for Pakistan to extend legal stay for Afghans at risk, warning of a worsening humanitarian crisis.

For now, families at Torkham arrive daily with stories of disrupted education, lost property and uncertain futures. Many say they have left everything behind in Pakistan, the only home they had ever known.

As Jan Mohammad put it:

“If we are given assistance and a place where we can build a house or set up our tent and continue our life [in Afghanistan], it would help us.”