PESHAWAR: Thousands of Afghans who were registered as refugees have surged over the border from Pakistan in recent days, with officials telling AFP returns have escalated despite the weekend’s deadly earthquake in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has hosted Afghans fleeing violence for more than four decades, from the Soviet invasion to the 2021 Taliban takeover.
Various cohorts of Afghans have found differing degrees of stability, including access to work and education, in neighboring Pakistan. Some were born and raised there, while others transited en route to resettlement in the West.
However, Pakistan’s government, citing an uptick in violent attacks and insurgent campaigns, launched a crackdown in 2023 to evict them, painting the population as “terrorists and criminals.”
More than 1.2 million Afghans have since been forced to return from Pakistan, including more than 443,000 this year alone, according to the United Nations.
