Afghan refugees in Islamabad face eviction, live in makeshift park shelters

Hundreds of Afghan refugees, including newborns and pregnant women, are living in Islamabad park under plastic sheets with nowhere to go. It's after landlords evicted them following pressure from Pakistan to expel documented, as well as undocumented, families ahead of a 1 September deadline.

The families said they're struggling to survive amid rain, mud, and hunger. Among them is 26-year-old Samia, from Afghanistan’s Hazara minority, who gave birth three weeks ago.

“I came here when my baby was seven days old, and now it has been 22 days … we have no food, and my baby was sick but there was no doctor,” she described. 

Around 200 families have taken shelter on the park’s wet ground, cooking small portions over open fires and using plastic sheets to protect themselves from the elements.

Children and parents face the daily challenge of keeping their belongings dry while battling the mud and sun. Women use a nearby mosque for basic hygiene needs.

Sahera Babur, 23, who is nine months pregnant, is among those who are affected the most.

“If my baby is born in this situation, what will happen to me and my child?” She added that police had instructed her landlord to evict her family because they were Afghan.

However, the police have denied harassing them. Deputy Inspector General Jawad Tariq said officers only asked families to leave voluntarily or relocate to holding centres.

Pakistan’s information ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

The United Nations has warned that the expulsion of Afghans could affect more than a million people. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Pakistan spokesperson, Qaiser Khan Afridi, called the situation “precarious,” noting that those unable to regularise their stay face arrest, deportation, or homelessness.

The agency is pressing the government to implement a registration system and reiterated that refugees should not be returned to life-threatening conditions.

Meanwhile, many say they cannot safely return to Afghanistan and say they have lived in limbo for years, relying on limited aid. 

Former Afghan government adviser Ahmad Zia Faiz warned, “If we return to Afghanistan, there is a risk of being killed.”

Former journalist Dewa Hotak, 22, said, “UNHCR gave us promises … but they have not visited us.”

Pakistan, host to millions of Afghans since the 1979 Soviet invasion, has stepped up expulsions under a 2023 crackdown, blaming Afghans for crime and militancy, charges rejected by Kabul.

The action comes despite around 1.3 million holding refugee registration documents, while 750,000 have Afghan identity cards issued in Pakistan.

Neighbouring Iran’s plans to deport more than a million Afghans have compounded the crisis, which aid groups describe as the largest refugee return crisis since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

Despite the green grass and calm scenery of Islamabad’s park, the refugees’ lives remain precarious.

“My message to the world is to see our situation,” said Samia, clutching her newborn son, summing up the plight of her community. 

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News Politics Afghan refugees Islamabad Pakistan