Photo Essay: At The Edge of Home in Afghanistan ….in Hopes for a Dignified Life
Afghan men, women, children deported from Pakistan, many of whom were born and raised in Pakistan. They have known no other home, and are waiting in tents, in temporary shelters, as the winter sets in. They are also waiting for their next steps and life in Afghanistan — one they fear resuming given the current humanitarian and food crisis facing the country. Through photographs — we capture their hopes, histories and stories.
Photographs by Oriane Zerah and Text by Samuel Hall team
View the virtual exhibition featuring these photos here.
O n a day marked by distress and fear, 30-year-old Karimah* found herself hastily packing her bags, and those of her family’s as they were forced to leave their village in Punjab, Pakistan. Together with her husband, Aarif*, the couple took the little that they could carry, compelled to leave many belongings behind. A police raid in their neighborhood, the threats of arrest and exploitation, and confiscation of assets, prompted them to make the most difficult decision one could make — leaving their home to protect their family.
Karimah* and Aarif* had lived as Afghan refugees in Punjab for seven years. They are parents of six children raised in Pakistan: the oldest of which is 11 years old, and the youngest, 2 years of age. Together with their children, they left Punjab for Afghanistan in November 2023.
On October 3, 2023, the Government of Pakistan announced that all foreign nationals without valid documentation must leave the country in just under a month; a move that could affect as many as 1.7 million Afghans in Pakistan. Many were forced to return prior to the deadline of November 1, 2023, but the mass deportations and expulsions only came after the deadline passed. Waves of police raids started, arrests and exploitations intensified, and mass expulsions began Karimah and Aarif joined half a million Afghan nationals forced to return to Afghanistan.
“We were fortunate to reside in a place that felt like a true home to us. The conditions were favorable, allowing our children to attend school while we sustained ourselves through work. Unfortunately, the circumstances took a turn for the worse,” said Karimah.
Many other families we interviewed as part of our research and learning partnership for the Asia Displacement Solutions Platform (ADSP) have similar stories.
Vafa* and Padida* were married in Pakistan. All of their 9 children were also born there. While he always felt like a migrant in Pakistan, he also felt a connection to the place.
“It was difficult for us to have to leave Pakistan, as we had grown up there and had our jobs and lives established there. Leaving all of that behind was a challenging experience, and it left a sense of longing and sadness among us,” said Vafa.
Even as Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) holders, who were supposed to be exempt from the pressure to return, Vafa and Padida’s family were forcibly apprehended and deported. While this was not the first time Vafa had experienced arrest by authorities in Pakistan, it was the first time that the arrest had ended in deportation — of him and his family.
“I have had several encounters with the police during the twenty years I spent there. They [would] arrest me, and my friends had to pay bribes of 1000–2000 Rupees to secure my release,” said Vafa.
According to IOM and UNHCR the timespan between September and 9 December 2023, more than 450,000 Afghans have been forced to return or been deported to Afghanistan. They return to a place already facing a dire humanitarian situation, with over 3.2 million Afghans internally displaced due to decades of conflict and cyclical disasters.
51-year-old Latifa* was deported from Pakistan by force as well, together with her husband Neamatullah*. The first time they had sought refuge in Pakistan was during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan decades ago.
Poverty was also a reality for Latifa’s family back in Pakistan “As we were poor, we used to drink tea and eat bread or potatoes,” she said, “we were not in a good situation there, we could not afford Daal or Beryani. It was too expensive.”
Neamatullah used to be a teacher back then in Afghanistan, but in Pakistan, he earned a living working on a mill. Latifa who suffers from mental health issues and heart conditions could not work.
Today, their big family, including 12 children, are split between the two countries — the older ones are married and still reside in Pakistan, and the younger ones are in Afghanistan with their parents.
“When I left Afghanistan, in order to feed my family, I had to work. So I started working in a mill. It became my job for years. But now that I am here [back] in Afghanistan, I am aged. I am not given any job due to my age,” said Neamatullah.
But now back in Afghanistan, the situation has further deteriorated; for thousands of Afghan families like that of Latifa and Neamatullah’s.
Over 29 million Afghans inside the country are currently in need of humanitarian assistance according to UN estimates, with 17.2 million people, 40 percent of the population, struggling to meet their basic food needs.
Unemployment, shelter, and access to food, health services and education pose significant challenges for millions in Afghanistan, including the recent forced returnees from Pakistan.
One such person is Omar Khan*. At age, 14, he had lost one of his legs when a Soviet missile hit his home In November, he was forced to leave Pakistan, where he had lived for the last ten years with his family.
“We had very good friends [in Pakistan], and it worth noting that most of our neighbours were in tears when we returned,” said Omar. “A home is a place where you can live a normal life.”
After arriving in Afghanistan, Omar Khan and his wife Abeda* face a wide range of intersecting issues — with poverty exacerbating access to shelter and education, and unemployment further pushing them into poverty. A vicious cycle, too familiar for many Afghan families.
“We are extremely anxious to enroll our children in school [but] the governmental school is too far away from our home, and owing to our low socioeconomic level, we cannot enroll them in private schools nearby,” said Omar Khan. “There are no job opportunities in our neighborhood, [and] we are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.”
Many Afghan returnees — whether deported or forced to return to Afghanistan by Pakistani authorities — were already facing financial difficulties. And when the decision to leave came, many — such as Hamidah’s* big family — had to sell their belongings to even afford their transportation back to Afghanistan.
“We sold all the appliances that we could because they asked for a huge amount of [money] to bring these appliances,” said Hamidah. “We sold out mobile phones to make money for transportation. We sold the beds, cabinets and many other things.”
“We did not feel at any point that Pakistan is our home. It was a temporary home for us and we knew that one day we should leave it and go to Afghanistan. We were not able to live there freely, and the police officers were always pestering and arresting us,” said Hamidah. “We hope that our lives will get better in the future.”
While breadwinners of returnee families carry the heavy weight of providing for their families, the breadwinner may also often be a child carrying the family’s burden. In the story of Maimoona’s* family of 10, her eldest son of merely 15 years of age provides for the rest — even for his mother’s unborn baby.
“Our older son, who is fifteen years old, takes on the responsibility of collecting second-hand material and procuring vegetables for our meals,” said Maimoona. “In our current situation, there are times when we have enough food for the day, and other times when we struggle to have a proper meal.”
“My son leaves home in the morning and returns at night, earning only fifty Afghanis,” said Abdul Razaq, adding that this amount is not nearly enough to feed a family of ten.
“Since we did not possess migrant’s cards, we were subjected to harsh treatment and mistreatment during the deportation process,” said Abdul Razaq.
In Pakistan, and before returning to Afghanistan, life was not without difficulty for Abdul-Razaq’s* family either. They felt subjected to various forms of discrimination, at times harsh treatment, and eventually a forceful deportation.
The stories of these six families reflect the impacts of the recent forced returns and deportations of Afghan nationals in Pakistan; effects that push already-vulnerable families further into vulnerability, in a country facing a humanitarian crisis and an economic collapse.
The Way Forward
Our calls to action and advocacy are rooted in our research — for more information on the data and evidence on education and women’s protection, please read our two research briefs on Afghan women waiting for protection in Iran and Pakistan here and on children’s access to education here.
Through our ongoing collaboration with the Asia Displacement Solutions Platform (ADSP) as their research and knowledge partner, we provide an overview of protection and durable solutions for Afghans in this region and of recommendations forward for:
Education for Afghan Girls: We underscore the urgent need to invest in local structures, trust, and relationships that will sustain girls’ education, even in the face of a national ban. This includes mosque-based education programmes, informal learning spaces, and radio education like Radio Begum’s initiatives and education platforms. We’re also advocating for higher education abroad as a pathway to international protection. Universities can and should do more to welcome Afghan girls and women who can no longer access higher education back home.
Women’s Protection in the Region: Extending evacuation operations for Afghan women waiting in Pakistan and Iran, and now fearing for their lives, under frequent police visits, searches, and various forms of daily harassment. They require urgent international protection, and they require their voices to be heard and acknowledged.
A Regional Mobility Framework: The region needs a cross-border mobility framework that allows movements that sustain the lives of Afghans, accepting the circularity and the seasonality of Afghan migration. Migration has been a way of life and survival mechanism for Afghans for decades.
Legal Settlement of Afghans in Pakistan: Deportations violate international laws and constitute refoulement. Afghans are being dispossessed of all their belongings and extorted of all they have before crossing the border. Additionally, this is the start of the winter — a time when governments halt (not start) deportations. These actions are unprecedented, even for the Government of Pakistan.
Afghans in Pakistan have for long contributed to local and regional economies, developed business niches, and introduced new agricultural skills and ideas. We are calling for legal — not just social or economic — settlement of Afghans in Pakistan, particularly for those who have lived in Pakistan for decades; giving legal stability to established socio-economically integrated communities and allowing them to purchase property and establish registered businesses independently.
- Names have been changed to protect identity.
