The millions of Afghans who fled their home countries after the then-Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 were a part of Allah Meer’s family in Islamabad, Pakistan.
In Kohat, in northwest Pakistan, his family made their home. Meer, now 45, was born there. More than 200 members of his extended family have traveled to Pakistan, Meer claims, from Afghanistan to Pakistan, where they have resided ever since.
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The family has feared for its future over the past two years because Pakistan has returned hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees, but they have escaped Islamabad’s dragnet.
As part of the campaign it started in 2023 to expel what it calls “illegal foreigners,” Pakistan announced last week that it would close all 54 Afghan refugee villages nationwide. Among these are the Kohat villages where Meer and his family reside.
“In my entire life, I only went to Afghanistan once, for two weeks in 2013. None of my family has ever returned, Meer told Al Jazeera. When we were born here, lived here, married here, and buried here, how can I ruin everything?
Families like Meer’s are caught in a jumble of uncertainty as a result of increased tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban, which re-established control of Afghanistan in 2021.
Early in October, fighting broke out between Afghan and Pakistani forces along the border, causing tense relations to turn into open hostility. Officials from both parties met on Sunday in Qatar’s capital, Doha, and agreed to a ceasefire. The next round of negotiations is scheduled for Istanbul on October 25.
However, tensions continue to be high. And Meer’s family worries that border neighbors could use them as diplomatic pawns in a border conflict.
From welcome to expulsion
Since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan has housed countless Afghan refugees. Afghans fled across the border as the Taliban first came to power in Afghanistan in 1996, and successive waves of Afghans did so.
Following the September 11 attacks on the US, the Taliban’s fall led to the return of thousands of Afghans. However, their return was brief.
Another 600, 000 to 800, 000 Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan after the Taliban’s stunning comeback in August 2021.
Pakistan, which was once the Taliban’s top ally, claimed that Afghanistan held armed organizations responsible for the cross-border attacks as relations between Kabul and Islamabad deteriorated over the past four years. Even those who have resided in the country for decades, like Meer, were hampered by the government’s stance toward Afghan refugees.
Meer, a 10-year-old father, founded a vocational training program for Afghan refugee children funded by the UNHCR. She graduated from a university in Peshawar with a degree in education.
To document Afghan citizens living in Pakistan, the UNHCR has issued Proof of Registration (PR) cards since 2006. They have access to some government services, including bank accounts, as well as some legal residence with these cards, which also restrict their freedom of movement.
However, the Pakistani government has discontinued and invalidated existing PoR cards as of June 30 this year.
We all have Proof of Residence cards issued by UNHCR, but with the current drive, Meer said, “I don’t know what will happen.”
Afghan nationals who are undocumented in the country were first given Afghan citizenship cards (ACC) in 2017 and were given identification credentials to give them temporary legal status.
However, the ACC no longer offers deportation protection.
Between the start of the campaign in 2023 and the middle of October 2025, more than 1.5 million Afghans voluntarily or by force left Pakistan, according to the UNHCR.
“Illegal in our home,” the phrase.
According to Qaiser Khan Afridi, the UNHCR’s representative in Pakistan, there are approximately 1.2 million PoR card holders, 737, 000 ACC holders, and 115, 000 asylum seekers.
Their status has become more precarious as a result of Pakistan’s tensions with the Taliban.
Afridi claimed that Pakistan has exhibited extraordinary generosity by hosting millions of Afghan refugees for over 45 years. However, the government’s decision to ban refugee camps throughout Pakistan and to encourage their relocation to Afghanistan is deeply concerning.
“Many of the people affected have lived here for years and are now concerned about their future.” We advocate that any return be gradual, ostensibly carried out, and in a sense of dignity and security.
More than 100 000 people live in seven refugee villages in Kohat alone, according to Meer, who has worked for the UNHCR for years. He claimed that Pakistan and Afghanistan both abused their political leverage to influence the refugee situation.
Our family members have sat down to discuss options in light of the most recent circumstance. We considered sending some of our young men to Afghanistan to look for homes and ways to conduct business, but the problem is that we have no connections there, he said.
His PoR card has been removed from all public places because the Pakistani government has now declared it invalid, making it difficult for him to even use medical facilities when his children need medical care.
He claimed that “we are, in the best way, considered illegal in a nation where I and my children reside.”
entangled between borders
Late in 2023, Pakistan’s plan to expel Afghan residents came about as rebe attacks increased. Since then, there has been a rise in violence, with 2025 likely to be the year with the highest level of violence.
Afghan refugees are a security risk, according to Pakistani authorities, who accuse the Taliban government of abridging armed groups. Kabul refutes this claim.
Sarfraz Bugti, Pakistan’s then interior minister, claimed that Afghan nationals carried out 14 of the country’s 24 suicide bombings in 2023. He did not elaborate on whether the individuals were Afghan nationals who had crossed the porous border between the two nations or refugees who were living there.
Given the hostility between the neighbours, Meer fears that Afghan refugees in Pakistan will also be misunderstood there.
He predicted that “we will also be seen as Pakistanis and as enemies there.”
Pakistan should reconsider its repatriation drive, according to Afridi, the UNHCR spokesperson.
UNHCR calls on the government to take steps to prevent Afghans from returning to their homes without permission, he said.
