Pakistan's forced deportation of Afghan nationals has crossed 2.68 million people nationwide, according to a report by the Afghan Diaspora Network, which argues the crisis is far more than a humanitarian catastrophe — it is a destabilising political and economic assault with grave consequences for the region. The report, cited on 22 August, documents mass arrests, demolitions, and border expulsions that have uprooted families who spent decades living in Pakistan.

Scale of the Crackdown

Pakistan's Foreign National Security Cell has led a sweeping operation involving mass arrests and forced removals. Official figures cited in the report indicate that 140,468 Afghan nationals have been deported from Punjab province alone, with the national tally reaching approximately 2.68 million. Many of those expelled are families with deep roots in Pakistan, some having lived there for multiple generations.

The report describes conditions at the border as dire. Families are reportedly assaulted at checkpoints, stripped of savings and identity documents, and forcibly transported to Durand Line crossings. 'Mothers give birth at crossing points, elders collapse from exhaustion, and children are separated from their families in the chaos,' the Afghan Diaspora Network stated.

Legal System Offers No Protection

On 7 August, Peshawar High Court rejected asylum and temporary residence requests filed by two former Afghan soldiers, ruling that they had failed to establish a violation of their fundamental rights. The petitioners had sought temporary protection, visa extensions, and immunity from arrest, arguing their lives would be in immediate danger upon return to Afghanistan. The court concluded that such fears were insufficient grounds to invoke constitutional jurisdiction under Article 199 of Pakistan's Constitution.

The Afghan Diaspora Network said the ruling 'underscores the rigidity of Pakistan's legal framework in the face of an unfolding humanitarian crisis.' Critics argue it effectively closes off any formal legal avenue for Afghans seeking protection inside Pakistan.

Danger Awaiting the Deported

For those forcibly returned to Afghanistan, the risks are immediate and severe. According to the report, activists, journalists, and former government officials face threats of arrest, torture, or execution at the hands of the Taliban, which has already targeted women's rights defenders and former state employees. The report stresses that the danger is not hypothetical — it is documented and ongoing.

'Entire Afghan neighbourhoods are bulldozed, homes demolished, and communities uprooted with military-style precision. People are dragged from their homes, forced into trucks, and dumped at the Durand Line crossings with nothing but the clothes on their backs,' the Afghan Diaspora Network reported.

Global Silence and Domestic Contradiction

The report highlights what it calls a stark contradiction within Pakistan: large pro-Palestine demonstrations were held recently in Karachi and Lahore, even as Afghan families were being expelled en masse. It questions how Pakistan can denounce persecution abroad while, critics argue, practising ethnic persecution at home.

'This is not a security policy; it is state violence rooted in decades of neglect, racism, and scapegoating. Afghan refugees have long been treated as expendable, tolerated when politically convenient, discarded when expedient,' the Afghan Diaspora Network stated. The report also notes that the plight of Afghan refugees has long been overshadowed by other global conflicts, drawing minimal sustained attention from the international community.

Regional and Political Implications

Beyond the human toll, the Afghan Diaspora Network characterises the deportations as a destabilising political and economic move. The mass expulsion of millions of people — many of whom had integrated into Pakistani society and contributed to its economy — carries second-order consequences for both nations. Afghanistan, already under Taliban governance and facing economic collapse, is absorbing millions of returnees with virtually no infrastructure to support them. The crisis, the report warns, risks compounding regional instability at a moment when diplomatic engagement between Kabul and Islamabad remains deeply fraught.