{
  "type": "article",
  "title": "Six Million Deportees Forced to Start Over Under Taliban Rule",
  "summary": "Mass deportations from Pakistan and Iran have forced nearly six million Afghan nationals to return to their homeland, where they face severe hardship and lack basic necessities.",
  "content": "Elderly individuals grimace as they hobble along on crutches, while wide-eyed children stare blankly, cradling chickens brought from homes they were forced to leave behind. Thirty-five-year-old Nazia remarks that it feels good to be in her own country, speaking just moments after crossing the border from Pakistan, where she was born, into Afghanistan.\n\nThe Torkham crossing, widely known as Zero Point, marks the exact boundary where one difficult chapter ends and another arduous reality begins. Nazia sighs as she heads toward registration counters decorated with black and white Taliban flags, accompanied by two of her children, noting that she has never set foot in Afghanistan before and that many people here lack even basic bread to eat.\n\nNearly her entire extended family, comprising eight sisters and their respective offspring, has been deported back to Afghanistan this year from either Pakistan or Iran. They form part of the largest cross-border migration movement anywhere in the globe today.\n\nMillions of Afghans have sought refuge or employment across the borders of Pakistan and Iran over decades, and the exodus from Afghanistan has steadily risen since the Taliban assumed control in August 2021. However, most are now being compelled to return as these neighboring nations crack down heavily on undocumented migrants. While Nazia and her relatives lacked official documentation, the United Nations and various human rights organizations emphasize that this security sweep extends far beyond undocumented individuals to target registered Afghans as well, with Pakistan now publicly acknowledging that holders of Proof of Registration cards are no longer exempt.\n\nAn Unprecedented Scale of Return\nTrucks packed with returnees remain parked in long queues along the highway close to the border, while the total number of people forced back this year from Pakistan and Iran has already hit another million, according to data from the UN Refugee Agency, the UNHCR.\n\nCharlie Goodlake, spokesperson for the UNHCR in Afghanistan, observes that in a little under three years, they have witnessed six million people, a population equivalent to a small country, return to Afghanistan. Standing in the intense heat of a tented settlement near the border, he underscores that recent history holds no precedent for a return movement of this sheer magnitude.\n\nThe area presents a desolate landscape of tarpaulin and plastic shelters, many currently tattered and torn, originally erected by the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations to offer temporary refuge for a few days to populations arriving with absolutely nothing.\n\nA significant portion of these returnees has not visited Afghanistan in decades, and individuals like Nazia are experiencing the country for the very first time in their lives.\n\nSarwar explains that he departed forty-five years ago during the Soviet invasion, and most of his brothers were born in Pakistan. He arrived a few days earlier alongside seven brothers and their respective families, traveling in a convoy of forty people accompanied by their worldly possessions packed into a lumbering Pakistani lorry.\n\nHe acknowledges feeling heartbroken when they were forced out of their home after spending such a long time abroad, yet despite the deep pain, he expresses happiness at finally being free from constant harassment by the police in Pakistan.\n\nEvery family encountered during the reporting process reported experiencing prejudice and mistreatment from authorities while residing in Pakistan.\n\nAlthough the Pakistani government has not formally addressed these specific inquiries, a foreign ministry spokesperson stated during a briefing in Islamabad that the government undertakes necessary measures to prevent any instances of harassment or maltreatment against Afghan nationals. The spokesperson added that any such occurrences are sporadic and addressed strictly in accordance with the law.\n\nBoth Pakistan and Iran maintain that the time has arrived for Afghans to return, citing security concerns regarding some individuals and describing others as financial burdens on their respective economies.\n\nExpulsions and alleged abuses escalated sharply following a major military flare-up between Pakistan and Afghanistan last October. In February, Human Rights Watch drew attention to frequent door-to-door raids, late-night home searches, and arrests conducted without proper warrants.\n\nIn Iran, which reported hosting over four million undocumented Afghans previously, mass deportations accelerated markedly following its twelve-day conflict with Israel and the US in June 2025.\n\nThe New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran accused authorities of exploiting the post-conflict climate to cast generalized suspicion upon Afghan migrants, accusing them of espionage and branding them as potential spies for Israel.\n\nThe UN refugee agency continues to emphasize the core humanitarian principle that any repatriation process must remain voluntary, safe, and dignified.\n\nPrecarious Futures and Women's Rights\nInside a barren transit tent offering minimal relief from scorching temperatures reaching 41 degrees Celsius, Zarina sits alongside a cluster of anxious women and children.\n\nWhen questioned about whether they fear for the future of women and girls in a nation where the Taliban has barred females from most aspects of public life, including secondary education and universities, forty-year-old Zarina makes a sweeping gesture toward the children and states that naturally she harbors deep concerns.\n\nOther returnees experience terror rather than mere worry.\n\nA former Afghan security guard, who faced deportation first from Iran and subsequently from Pakistan, explains that he refuses to leave his safe house far from the border, noting that his wife and children are equally terrified to step outside.\n\nHe dismisses the amnesty announced by the Taliban government shortly after their takeover, which promised protection and a return to work for former government officials, security personnel, and civil servants, stating that he places no trust in it because numerous colleagues have already been killed. He notes that his own case was registered with the UN, but he was deported before relocation to a safer nation could occur.\n\nSevere financial distress magnifies these hardships, as global cuts in foreign aid hit Afghanistan particularly hard while the Taliban remains burdened by international sanctions linked to terrorism and human rights concerns.\n\nPakistan confirmed that 16,000 vulnerable Afghans have been granted a temporary exemption from deportation on humanitarian grounds, a development welcomed by the UN. However, independent sources estimate that up to 250,000 Afghans in Pakistan remain at risk of serious harm, including women and girls facing educational bans.\n\nAt the foreign ministry compound in Kabul, Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi attempts an optimistic tone, admitting that assistance is undoubtedly required and that while returning populations create initial pressure, the movement will ultimately benefit both the individuals and Afghanistan in the long term.\n\nDuring the initial years following their 2021 takeover, certain ministers downplayed humanitarian challenges by asserting that divine providence would provide. Today, the UN estimates that 21.9 million people, nearly half the total population, require survival assistance this year, with UNICEF reporting that one million children face life-threatening malnutrition.\n\nGoodlake notes that no single nation could manage such a massive crisis independently, while acknowledging the efforts made by the Taliban government to assist arrivals, though he adds that ongoing restrictions on women and girls severely hinder international fundraising efforts.\n\nMuttaqi reiterates the official stance that women's education and similar matters constitute internal domestic issues for Afghans to resolve independently. These severe restrictions on female freedoms remain a primary stumbling block in international relations, leaving Russia as the sole nation to formally recognize their administration five years on.\n\nWhen questioned regarding diplomatic isolation from Western countries, Muttaqi dismisses the impact by asking what nations lacking diplomatic ties over the past five years have actually achieved, answering his own question with a definitive nothing.\n\nThat exact word echoed across every conversation at Zero Point, where families embarking on their difficult journeys home shared the common reality of starting over with almost nothing.\n\nWhat this means for you\nThe massive influx of returnees places severe strain on humanitarian resources, regional stability, and local infrastructure within the affected areas.\n\n• Across India: This regional humanitarian crisis has no direct practical impact on daily consumer prices, jobs, or domestic policies within India, though it remains a significant geopolitical development in South Asia.\n• Inside Afghanistan: The sudden return of six million people has severely stretched scarce food supplies, employment opportunities, and medical services, intensifying an already critical survival crisis for the local population.\n• Economic Strain: Plummeting international aid coupled with ongoing sanctions leaves nearly half the population dependent on humanitarian assistance, crippling local market stability.\n• Education and Rights: Ongoing prohibitions against secondary and higher education for females jeopardize the future prospects of an entire generation of women and girls.\n• Security Uncertainty: Returnees associated with the former government face persistent security risks and lack trust in official amnesties, exacerbating widespread fear.\n\nQuestions & Answers\n\n1. How many Afghan nationals have returned to Afghanistan?\nAccording to the UNHCR, approximately six million people have returned to Afghanistan in a little under three years.\n\n2. What is the Torkham crossing commonly known as?\nThe Torkham crossing is known as Zero Point, marking the border entry point from Pakistan into Afghanistan.\n\n3. Why did mass deportations accelerate in Iran?\nDeportations accelerated following Iran's 12-day conflict with Israel and the US in June 2025 amidst heightened security concerns.\n\n4. How many Afghans received exemptions in Pakistan?\nPakistan granted temporary exemptions from deportation to 16,000 vulnerable Afghans on humanitarian grounds.\n\n5. How many countries officially recognize the Taliban government?\nFive years after the takeover, only Russia has formally recognized the Taliban administration.\n\n6. How many people require assistance in Afghanistan this year?\nThe UN estimates that 21.9 million people, nearly half the population, require humanitarian assistance to survive.",
  "url": "https://trendkia.com/en/middle-east/six-million-deportees-forced-to-start-over-under-taliban-rule-25598",
  "category": "Middle East",
  "publishedAt": "2026-09-01",
  "tags": [
    "Afghan refugees",
    "Taliban rule",
    "Torkham border",
    "Pakistan deportations",
    "humanitarian crisis",
    "refugee displacement",
    "Iran deportations"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "site": "TrendKia"
}