{"id":3419,"date":"2025-06-19T09:18:21","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T04:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/?p=3419"},"modified":"2025-06-19T14:20:27","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T09:20:27","slug":"deported-afghans-risk-all-to-re-enter-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/2025\/06\/19\/deported-afghans-risk-all-to-re-enter-pakistan","title":{"rendered":"Deported Afghans Risk All to Re-Enter Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: Despite mass deportations, many expelled Afghans are secretly returning to Pakistan, driven by fear, poverty, and a desperate search for stability.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the past two years, Pakistan has deported more than a million Afghan nationals.<\/p>\n

Yet thousands have come back, unwilling to face what they call a life-threatening existence in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

One such man, 46-year-old Hayatullah (name changed), was deported in early 2024 through the Torkham crossing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.<\/p>\n

He returned just weeks later through Chaman, paying a bribe to slip back across the border.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing back there would be sentencing my family to death,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His daughters, aged 16 and 18, are banned from school in Afghanistan, and there is little access to work or services.<\/p>\n

Peshawar Preferred for Safety<\/h3>\n

After re-entering Pakistan, Hayatullah moved his family to Peshawar, where, he says, police harassment is less severe than in cities like Islamabad.<\/p>\n

Another Afghan, Samad Khan, also returned illegally.<\/p>\n

Born in Lahore, he was deported in April 2025 \u2014 his first-ever visit to Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no work, no relatives, no life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After a brief attempt to survive in Afghanistan, he paid Rs50,000 to sneak back using a Pakistani employee\u2019s ID.<\/p>\n

He returned to Lahore, collected his family, and resettled in Peshawar, where he started a used shoe business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe environment here is much better,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Reintegration in Afghanistan Called ‘Challenging’<\/h3>\n

Accurate data on re-entry is scarce, but anecdotal reports suggest many deported Afghans are finding ways back into Pakistan.<\/p>\n

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) confirmed cases of returnees re-migrating due to poor conditions.<\/p>\n

The UN agency warns that reintegration remains \u201cchallenging\u201d in areas with limited basic services, education, and economic opportunities.<\/p>\n

As poverty worsens and pressure mounts, experts fear the cycle of forced return and illegal re-entry will continue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: Despite mass deportations, many expelled Afghans are secretly returning to Pakistan, driven by fear, poverty, and a desperate search for stability. Over the past two years, Pakistan has deported more than a million Afghan nationals. Yet thousands have come back, unwilling to face what they call a life-threatening existence in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. One such …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[438,1691,1694],"class_list":["post-3419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news","tag-deportation","tag-migration","tag-refugees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3419"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3421,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3419\/revisions\/3421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}