Editor's note: this story was translated from the original VOA Pashto article.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the United Nations will work with Pakistan to “uphold protection principles and ensure that returns of Afghans proceed in a voluntary, safe and dignified way.”
Speaking at a joint news conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar in Islamabad on Tuesday, Guterres said the U.N. is committed to working with Pakistan on the issue of Afghan refugees.
Deporting Afghans
Pakistan has continued the forcible deportation of Afghan refugees since 2023, when the country started the first phase of the Interior Ministry's Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan to deport undocumented immigrants and refugees.
The U.N. Organization for International Migration says more than 2.68 million Afghans returned from Pakistan between September of 2023 and August of this year.
The U.N. reported that in 2026 about 776,000 Afghans returned to Afghanistan, including those forcibly deported.
“Many Afghan returnees continue to face significant human rights violations and protection risks inside Afghanistan,” said the U.N.
According to the U.N., about 1.6 million Afghans, including 160,000 undocumented refugees, are still living in Pakistan.
“Pakistan is forcing us to leave"
Thirty-year-old Asadullah Safi was born in Pakistan, where his family lived for more than 40 years in a refugee camp near Peshawar City. Now, he faces deportation to a country where he has never lived.
Safi told VOA that Pakistani security forces destroyed his family’s home and forced them to leave the camp. He now lives in hiding in a makeshift shelter.
“Pakistan is forcing us to leave,” Safi said, noting that “in Afghanistan, people don’t have shelters. There is nowhere [for us] to go. There are no services in Afghanistan and girls’ schools are closed there.”
Abdul Hamid Jalili, former Afghan attaché for refugees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told VOA that the forcible deportation of Afghan refugees could bring about “a humanitarian crisis.”
“It is not only returning. They need employment, shelter, and public services there,” Jalili said.
He added that Afghanistan, given its current political and economic situation, cannot accommodate that many returnees and that international aid is no longer available at the levels it once was.
The U.N. reported in May that Afghanistan is facing a humanitarian and economic crisis as millions of people struggle to access essentials, including water, food, healthcare, housing, heating and clothing.
“The international community should have serious talks with Pakistan to find a way to solve the problem,” said Safi.