RASC News Agency: Recent data compiled from various media sources, including the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency, reveals that Iran and Pakistan expelled a staggering 758 Afghanistani refugee families within a single week (February 15–22). According to these reports, Iran forcibly or “voluntarily” deported 505 families, while Pakistan expelled 253 Afghanistani households. A closer examination of the data indicates that, over the past week, 151 families were forced to return via the Torkham border crossing, while 102 families were sent back through the Spin Boldak corridor. Simultaneously, 170 families crossed into Afghanistan through the Pul-e-Abrisham border in Nimroz, and another 335 families entered via Islam Qala.
This latest surge in deportations follows a similar pattern from the previous week (February 8–15), during which Iran and Pakistan expelled a total of 449 Afghanistani familiesc335 by Iran and 114 by Pakistan through both coerced and nominally voluntary means. Since the Taliban’s resurgence, Afghanistan has witnessed one of the largest refugee crises in modern history, with over ten million citizens fleeing the country. The primary catalysts behind this unprecedented exodus include retaliatory persecution against former government employees, systemic ethnic and sectarian discrimination, crippling unemployment, and worsening poverty.
The forced return of these refugees from Iran and Pakistan comes at a time when many face grave risks under Taliban rule. Reports suggest that deported individuals are at high risk of arrest, imprisonment, and even execution, intensifying fears of persecution for those who had sought refuge beyond Afghanistan’s borders.
