RASC News Agency: Reports from Bakhtar News Agency, operating under Taliban control, indicate that in the past week (March 8–14), Pakistan and Iran collectively expelled 674 Afghanistani refugee families. According to the data, Iran forcibly or voluntarily deported 564 families, while Pakistan expelled 110 families within the same timeframe. Statistics reveal that 110 families re-entered Afghanistan via the Spin Boldak border crossing, 150 families returned through the Pul-e-Abrisham border in Nimroz, and 414 families were forced back through the Islam Qala border in Herat. The crackdown comes as Pakistan continues its 23-day closure of the Torkham border crossing, leaving thousands of individuals many in dire medical conditions stranded on both sides. Simultaneously, both Pakistan and Iran have escalated their campaign of forced deportations, with daily arrests of Afghanistani refugees by local authorities.
Refugees have reported widespread mistreatment, including physical abuse, humiliation, and inhumane detention conditions at the hands of Pakistani and Iranian law enforcement. This sharp turn in policy is particularly striking given that both countries were once instrumental in facilitating the Taliban’s return to power. However, as diplomatic rifts between Islamabad, Tehran, and the Taliban deepen, the mass deportation of Afghanistani refugees appears to have become a tool for political leverage.
With the Taliban demonstrating little concern for the humanitarian plight of millions of Afghanistani citizens, the expulsion of refugees by Pakistan and Iran further exacerbates an already dire crisis. As tensions continue to rise, the fate of these displaced individuals remains uncertain, trapped between hostile host nations and an indifferent regime in Kabul.
