Evicted from their homes and huddling under plastic sheets after heavy rains, Afghan refugees in a park near government offices in Islamabad said they had nowhere to go as Pakistan pressures landlords to expel documented families.
Among them is Samia, 26, from Afghanistan’s Hazara minority, a Shi’ite community long persecuted at home, who gave birth just three weeks ago.
“I came here when my baby was seven days old, and now it has been 22 days … we have no food, and my baby was sick but there was no doctor,” she said on Friday (August 15), wearing damp clothes and shoes caked in mud as she cuddled her son, Daniyal whose body bore a rash.
An Afghan citizen, Parvana, 17, adjust her scarf as she takes shelter at a public park with her family along with others after they were evicted, as Pakistan has started to deport documented Afghan refugees ahead of its deadline for them to leave, in Islamabad, Pakistan, on August 15, 2025. (REUTERS)
The United Nations says Pakistan has begun deporting documented Afghans before a Sept. 1 deadline that could force more than a million to leave.
