Tageszeitung, 3 August 2025
AAN’s Thomas Ruttig reports Pakistan’s announcement to start the third phase of its deportations of Afghan refugees, now of the 1.4 million holders of Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, refugees registered both by Pakistan’s authorities and the UN Refugee Agency. It is the most extensive wave of deportations to date.
The article also refers to the tensions between Pakistan and the Taleban regime as context to the deportations: “Pakistan also uses mass deportations as a political lever. For decades, its governments supported armed Afghan insurgents such as the mujahedin and the Taleban and, in return, took in war refugees from Afghanistan. The armed groups used refugee camps as retreats and recruitment bases. But now bilateral relations are strained: the Taleban are resisting Pakistan’s influence and are themselves hosting Pakistani refugee camps from which anti-government Pakistani Taleban operate.”
There are also references to Iran’s and Tajikistan’s latest deportations of Afghans.
Accompanying this article is an op-ed commentary by Thomas. He writes:
While a lack of empathy [towards refugees] seems to be becoming normalised among populations in the south and north, east and west, fortunately there is also a countertrend of solidarity. In Afghanistan, volunteers who themselves have little (over 90 per cent of the population lives in poverty) distribute food and hygiene items as first aid. Even Afghan women – almost completely disenfranchised by the Taliban in their own country – are getting involved and creating jobs in small workshops, thereby generating income for their fellow women.
Revisions:
This article was last updated on 5 Aug 2025
