Pakistan accelerates closures of Afghan refugee villages, leaving families uncertain
As-salamu alaykum - For decades many Afghan families have found safety in Pakistan, but recent moves to shut refugee villages are leaving thousands worried about their future.
By Abid Hussain
Islamabad, Pakistan – Allah Meer’s parents were among the millions who fled Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979. They settled in a refugee village in Kohat in northwestern Pakistan, and Meer, now 45, was born there. More than 200 relatives made that journey and Pakistan has been their home ever since.
In the past two years, Pakistan has intensified efforts to send back many Afghan residents, and Meer’s extended family has been anxious about what will happen, though they had managed to avoid being targeted so far.
Last week the threat became more real: Pakistan announced plans to close all 54 Afghan refugee villages across the country as part of a campaign begun in 2023 to remove what it calls “illegal foreigners,” including the villages in Kohat where Meer’s family lives.
“In my life I visited Afghanistan only once, for two weeks in 2013. Apart from that, none of my family have ever gone back,” Meer says. “How can I uproot everything when we were born here, lived here, married here, and buried our loved ones here?”
With relations strained between Pakistan and the Taliban government in Kabul, families like Meer’s are trapped in a situation full of uncertainty.
Fighting along the border earlier in October pushed relations into open hostility. Officials from both sides met and agreed to a ceasefire in regional talks, but tensions remain high, and many families fear they could become bargaining chips in a dispute between countries.
Pakistan has hosted waves of Afghan refugees since 1979. When the Taliban first took power in the 1990s and again after their return to control in 2021, large numbers crossed into Pakistan seeking safety.
Over recent years Pakistan’s attitude hardened as accusations flew about armed groups using Afghan territory to strike across the border. That shift affected many Afghans who had lived in Pakistan for decades.
Meer, a father of 10 with a degree in education from Peshawar, runs a vocational training project for Afghan children supported by the UN refugee agency. Many in his community held UNHCR Proof of Registration (PoR) cards for years, which allowed limited legal residency and access to some services. But since June 30 this year, Pakistan stopped renewing PoR cards and invalidated many existing ones.
“We all possess the UNHCR-issued Proof of Residence cards, but now, with this current drive, I don’t know what will happen,” Meer said.
Pakistan also issued Afghan Citizenship Cards (ACC) to undocumented Afghans from 2017, but those too no longer reliably protect holders from deportation.
UNHCR estimates more than 1.5 million Afghans left Pakistan - voluntarily or forcibly - between the start of the 2023 campaign and mid-October 2025. Still, over a million PoR cardholders, many ACC holders and tens of thousands of asylum seekers remain in Pakistan, facing increasing precarity as tensions rise.
“For over 45 years, Pakistan has shown extraordinary generosity by hosting millions of Afghan refugees,” a UNHCR spokesperson said. “We are deeply concerned by the decision to de-notify refugee villages and to push for returns. Any return should be voluntary, gradual, and carried out with dignity and safety.”
Meer says seven refugee villages in Kohat alone house more than 100,000 people. He feels both governments have used refugees as political leverage. His family elders have discussed options, including sending some young men to Afghanistan to look for homes or business opportunities, but they have no real connections across the border.
With his PoR card invalidated, Meer currently lacks an identity document accepted by Pakistani authorities, making access to medical care and other services difficult for his children.
“We are, for all practical purposes, considered illegal in a country that I and my children call home,” he said.
Pakistani officials argue the repatriation drive is needed for security reasons and say armed groups are operating from Afghan soil, a claim Kabul denies. In recent years attacks inside Pakistan have risen, and authorities have linked some of those incidents to Afghan nationals, though details and evidence have been contested.
Meer worries that if his family returns to Afghanistan they may be mistrusted there as well, seen as too close to Pakistan.
UNHCR urges Pakistan to exempt people with international protection needs from forced returns and to preserve the country’s long tradition of hospitality at this critical time.
May Allah make an ease for those facing hardship and grant safety and dignity to displaced families.
https://www.aljazeera.com/feat