Evicted Afghan Refugees Huddle in Islamabad Park, Dreading Return Home

Evicted from their homes and gathered in a park near government offices in Islamabad, Afghan refugees say they have nowhere to go, as Pakistan pressures landlords to expel even families holding legal documents.

Among them is Samia, 26, who gave birth three weeks ago.

She told Reuters: “I came here when my baby was only seven days old, and now it has been 22 days. We have no food, and my baby got sick but there was no doctor.”

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says Pakistan has begun deporting documented Afghans ahead of a September 1 deadline, an action that could force more than one million people to return. This comes as around 1.3 million Afghans hold refugee registration cards, and another 750,000 have Afghan ID cards issued in Pakistan.

Samia now spends her days and nights on the wet ground of the park alongside 200 other families, where they cook, sleep, and dry their belongings after the rain.

They told Reuters that families pool their little money to buy potatoes or squash. Women in the park use the washroom of a nearby mosque.

Sahera Babur, 23, also said: “If my baby is born in these conditions, what will happen to me and my child?” She added that police had told her landlord to evict them because they are Afghans.

When Reuters journalists visited Pakistan’s capital, they saw dozens of policemen standing on the edge of the park, monitoring the refugees.

Refugees said police repeatedly told them to either leave the park or risk being arrested. However, police denied any harassment.

Dewa Hotak, a former television journalist in Kabul, said: “UNHCR made promises to us, but they have not even visited yet.”

Since 2023, Pakistan has accelerated the expulsion of Afghan refugees, including those with legal documents and even those holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards.