Families Torn Apart as Pakistan Enforces Deportation of Afghan Refugees**

As deportations intensify in Pakistan, Afghan refugees, many of whom have married local citizens, face uncertain futures, risking family separations and perilous conditions upon return to Afghanistan.**

Every night in Karachi, Fatima Bibi is gripped by anxiety, haunted by the sounds of police sirens that echo through the city. Her husband, Sher Zada, is one of many Afghan refugees facing deportation from Pakistan, a country he has known as home since fleeing conflict in Afghanistan during his childhood in 1992. Despite their hopes for stability—given Mr. Zada's long-term ties to Pakistan and marriage to a Pakistani citizen—the government has made it clear that he must leave.

The situation deteriorated as the deadline set by the Pakistani authorities for undocumented Afghans to find alternative refuge passed on March 31. Following this, the state’s minister for interior, Talal Chaudhry, revealed that over 80,000 Afghans have been deported in recent weeks, many of whom face grave risks under the Taliban, which has reasserted its control over Afghanistan. This announcement has brought distress to families like Ms. Bibi's, who fear the nightmares of separation might become a reality.

“I wonder what will happen to my children if they take Zada away,” Ms. Bibi lamented, reflecting the fear and uncertainty faced by many families caught in this dilemma. The deportation campaign also coincides with heightened tensions between Pakistan and India, creating an already volatile context for Afghan refugees in Pakistan. With both countries striking hard at each other diplomatically in the wake of a terrorist incident in Kashmir, the Afghan refugees find themselves in a precarious situation, not only risking deportation but also possible endangerment upon their return to a tumultuous homeland.