Video: At The Edge of Home: Snippets of Conversations with 2 Families Recently Deported from Pakistan
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. In this video, we capture the stories of 2 families.
Photographs by Oriane Zerah, Video produced by Samuel Hall
O n 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, followed by mass deportations and expulsions.
This video shows the stories of two such families.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M3Iy0827SpaavJfCJ5b1KTEaWYMsOsSP/view?usp=sharing
According to the IOM and UNHCR, in 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 humanitarian crisis, with over 23.7 million people — more than half of Afghanistan’s population — projected to require humanitarian assistance in 2024.
The stories of these two 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.
Read stories of more families here.
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.
