Every night, in Karachi, Pakistan’s bustling port city, Fatima Bibi is afraid to go to bed. The sirens on the street outside made her anxious. She wondered if knocking on the door would tear the family apart.
Her husband, Sher Zada, is an Afghan refugee. His family fled the conflict in Afghanistan when he was a boy in 1992, and Pakistan was the only home he knew. Ms. Bibi's family had long hoped that despite Mr. Zada's status undocumented, his close ties to the country and his marriage to the Pakistani national would eventually help him obtain permanent residence, if not citizenship.
But for the Pakistani government, Mr. Zada has officially left.
On March 31, the government imposed a deadline for many Afghans in Pakistan to find another shelter. Those who do not have legal status, like Mr. Zada, are still in Pakistan and are now facing repatriation. Less than three weeks after the deadline expired, Pakistan’s Home Minister Talal Chaudhry announced at a press conference that more than 80,000 Afghans have been fired.
Deportation can put refugees under dangerous conditions under the heavy hand of the Afghan Taliban rule. And if they marry a Pakistani, it could mean leaving their families behind.
“What would happen to my children and me if Zada was taken away?” Ms. Bibi said.
The movement to expel Afghans was against conflict with India, Pakistan's eastern neighbors and troops. India ordered almost all Pakistani citizens to leave the country as part of its response to the Kashmir terrorist attacks related to Pakistan. The Pakistani government denied any involvement in the attack and requested an international investigation into it, and his response was to cancel visas for most Indian citizens.
Pakistan's crackdown on Afghans comes after years of intensifying restrictions on Afghanistan's residence. Recent UN reports show that more than 910,000 Afghans have been deported from the country since September 2023.
The deportation was mainly due to officials' frustration with the Taliban government, who accused Pakistani militants of being responsible for the deadly attacks in Pakistan. The Taliban denied the allegations, but tensions continued to intensify.
Pakistan's military said on Sunday that it killed 54 militants in the past two nights in an attempt to infiltrate the country from Afghanistan. Pakistan said the militants were “Khawarij” and it was often used in the Pakistani Taliban.
The Pakistani government is also braver by the trend of anti-immigration sentiment around the world. It is similar to recent deportation efforts in the United States and various European countries to justify its campaign.
Among the Afghans facing deportation in Pakistan are those who arrived after the Taliban seized electricity in August 2021, now awaiting resettlement in Western countries, including the United States. Pakistan extends its deadline for relocation to another country to Wednesday, after which they will face deportation again.
When President Trump issued an executive order to suspend all refugee enrollment, their fate became increasingly uncertain. The decision left thousands of Afghans stranded in Pakistan without clear recourse.
In October 2023, Mr. Zada was detained in an earlier effort to fire undocumented Afghans. He reluctantly avoided deportation only after Ms. Bibi's father paid a last-minute bribe to secure his release.
This year's re-deportation campaign forced Mr. Zada and his family to leave their homes. Ms. Bibi's father provided them with shelter and put himself in danger. In a press conference this month, Mr Choudhury warned that anyone who helped Afghan stay in the country illegally had strict influence.
The plight of refugees like Mr. Zada (Afghan married to Pakistani citizens) is one of the most overlooked aspects of Pakistan’s deportation drive, rights groups say.
Although there is no official data on the subject, rights groups such as the Joint Action Committee of Pakistan Civil Society Networks estimate that thousands of Afghan-Pakistan marriages have occurred. They are located in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where the province of Pakistan has a porous border with Afghanistan.
Such weddings are usually conducted through tribal customs or informal community rituals. Despite social recognition, unions often lack formal documents, such as marriage certificates, which makes it difficult for Afghan spouses to obtain legal residence or citizenship.
Even in big cities like Karachi, Afghans with Pakistani spouses often face barriers to formally registering a marriage or the birth of their children.
According to the Pakistan National Database and Registration Bureau or Nadella, foreign spouses of Pakistan citizens are eligible for a Pakistani origin card, which will grant them the right to enter without a visa and stay and possess property indefinitely. But many Afghan applicants have been deprived of their cards.
Legal experts told Mr Zada that his marriage to Ms Bibi gave him a chance to stay in Pakistan legally, if slim. However, the lengthy process and high expenses are too exciting. He said Mr. Zada could only make $3 a day.
Some Pakistani marriages to Afghans have turned to the judiciary to alleviate bureaucratic barriers. In July, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's court ruled that there were 65 petitioners, declaring that their Afghan spouses were eligible for dual nationality. But this is rare.
Umer Ijaz Gilani, a refugee rights expert in Islamabad, Pakistan, said the authorities deliberately cultivated the belief that while refugees have few choices to obtain legal residence or citizenship, despite constitutional guarantees and numerous rulings from the superior courts.
“The core issue is the instability and inadequate implementation of existing safeguards in the government, not the law itself,” Gillani said.
Refugee right-wing activists also said that Nadra rejected applicant cards, often with Pakistani intelligence agencies’ liquidation requirements. Nadella officials declined to comment on the claims.
Pakistani authorities remain firmly committed to deportation. Officials say all undocumented Afghans must leave the country and re-enter a valid visa, regardless of marriage or family relationship. But current immigration restrictions may make it nearly impossible for them to obtain a visa after they leave.
Mukaram Shah, an Afghan immigrant married to a Pakistani woman, has lived in the suburbs of Quetta, about 70 miles from the Afghan border. In December 2023, he was arrested by police while working as a porter at a local vegetable market.
His family said there was no legal action and Mr. Shah was taken directly to the Chaman crossing and deported to Afghanistan.
“We can't even say a proper farewell,” said his wife Palwasha. Like many women in rural Pakistan, she is named a name.
Her family refused to let her follow her husband on the grounds of safety and financial concerns, and believed he would return to a long-term visa. But hope is disappearing under the current suppression of Afghan refugees.
“Every night, my kids ask their father when he will come home,” Palvasha said, his voice breaking. “I don't have an answer. All I can do is pray.”
