RASC News Agency: Media outlets under Taliban control reported that 266 Afghanistani refugee families were deported from Pakistan and Iran and returned to Afghanistan in the past day. On Tuesday, “Bakhtar News Agency” stated that these families entered the country via the Torkham, Spin Boldak, Nimroz, and Islam Qala border crossings. According to available information, 18 families returned via the Torkham border, 21 families through Spin Boldak, 75 families through Nimroz, and 152 Afghanistani refugee families crossed the Islam Qala border in Herat.
Out of these, 15 families were relocated to their original provinces. Taliban authorities stated that emergency assistance has been provided to dozens of the returnee families. It is worth noting that the expulsion of Afghanistani refugees from Iran and Pakistan has intensified recently. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently reported that during the first half of this year, over 574,000 Afghanistani refugees were deported from Iran and Pakistan back to Afghanistan.
Afghanistani citizens fled the country in large numbers following the Taliban’s return to power, seeking refuge in neighboring countries such as Iran and Pakistan. Major reasons for migration have been identified as extreme poverty, unemployment, political, ethnic, and cultural oppression, the continued closure of schools and universities, fear of persecution or death, and hopelessness regarding the country’s future. However, as these migrants are forced back into Afghanistan, their lives are in significant danger, with many facing potential arrest, torture, or even execution by the Taliban regime.
This grim reality highlights the ongoing humanitarian crisis faced by the Afghanistani people under Taliban rule, with the situation for returning refugees remaining dire and fraught with risk.
