In the past six days, Pakistan has deported 2,811 Afghan refugees through the Torkham crossing after detaining them.
Baz Mohammad Abdulrahman, head of the Refugees and Repatriation Department in Nangarhar, told that these refugees were residents of various provinces of Afghanistan and were transported to their respective regions after receiving initial aid.
“A total of 845 families comprised of 4,132 individuals have returned, and 2,811 of them were deported after spending a short time in detention before being sent back via Torkham,” he said.
Meanwhile, forcibly deported individuals say they were arrested by Pakistani police while at work and deported to Afghanistan, leaving behind their businesses and family members.
A deportee, Gul Mohammad, said: “I ran a small hotel business at the fruit market. The police raided me, detained me in Haji Camp in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for four nights, and now deported me via Torkham.”
Some other deportees say that although Pakistan demands visas, it does not provide a proper system for extending them. Instead, visas are sold at high prices on the black market, making them unaffordable.
Mohammad Arif, a deportee, said: “We want to live there legally and by the rules. They should extend our visas. If we apply for a normal visa, it gets rejected multiple times, and we’re forced to get them through brokers for $1,200 to $1,500, which we cannot afford.”
Another deportee, Aqakhan, said: “They arrested us while we were working. Whatever money we had, they took it. They brought us to the police station and treated us harshly. They don’t see us as good neighbors.”
This comes as the Nangarhar provincial administration held an emergency coordination meeting with local and international aid agencies to focus on delivering urgent assistance to those forcibly repatriated from Pakistan.