SPIN BOLDAK Brightly colored trucks arrive across the Pakistani border in a steady stream into southern Afghanistan. Located in Kandahar province, this Spin Boldak border crossing is one of the most important between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The trucks are loaded full of mattresses, pots and pillows. Women in burkas and small children and men in turbans and traditional clothes sit on top of the goods. Some include domestic animals.
They are Afghan refugees deported by Pakistan. Many refugees have never been to Afghanistan.
Security forces dressed in Taliban uniforms inspect the vehicles and let them into the country.
Pakistan announced in October that all foreigners living illegally must leave the country by November or face deportation. In practice, this mainly concerned Afghan refugees who have been in the country for 40 years. It is estimated that there are more than three million refugees. About 1.7 million of them are undocumented, who are practically affected by deportation.
Human rights organizations and the international community have appealed to Pakistan to stop the deportations. The deportations are estimated to be related to the strained relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
A person who has lived in Pakistan’s Quetta for 40 years is crossing the border right now Syed Raheem Agha with his family. He sits in the back of a fully loaded pickup truck.
The police arrested the undocumented Agha and took him to a camp where, according to him, hundreds of other Afghans were gathered to await deportation.
– When you have to go to a camp, they force you out of the country. And then you have to get rid of the family, he says.
Agha escaped from the camp a couple of days ago, picked up his family from their home and decided to leave the country with them on his own accord.
Now the family has to live in temporary tents near the border, because they have no home in Afghanistan to return to. Many others have the same situation.
– If someone helps me, I might be able to leave here and find work elsewhere.
The return of the Taliban complicated the situation in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has been struggling in the grip of a severe humanitarian crisis since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Sanctions and dwindling international funding made it difficult to provide aid to the country.
The situation has worsened even more in the past year: the UN has been able to collect only about a third of the amount of money it estimates it needs to support Afghanistan. The earthquake that hit Herat in October made tens of thousands of people homeless.
Hafiz Maulvi Ali Muhammad Haqmal is a Taliban spokesman in the municipality of Spin Boldak, where the border crossing point is located.
According to him, the number of returnees has slowly decreased in southern Afghanistan during the month: At the beginning of November, approximately 1,400 families crossed the border daily, at the end of November, approximately 200. In the first two weeks of November alone, a total of approximately 170,000 refugees left Pakistan.
– The administration and organizations are trying hard to supply the returnees with food, health care and meet hygiene needs, says Haqmal. The newcomers are also given 10,000 Afghanis in cash, which is equivalent to about 132 euros.
A short distance from the border crossing point, there are large tents set up for refugees. The workers of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are buzzing around registering new arrivals. However, the tents are almost empty, as most of them quickly move on from the border.
A 20-year-old man named is waiting alone in one of the tents Zafarullah. He has been separated from his family, who remained in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi.
– Now I’m just waiting for my family to arrive here. I had the papers, but the police didn’t let me get them from my house when I was arrested, he says.
According to Pakistan, it only deports those foreigners who do not have the proper documents. So it is possible that Zafarullah will still be able to return to Pakistan after receiving his papers from his family.
No citizenship for Afghans born in Pakistan
According to data from the migrant organization IOM, 97 percent of those who returned to Afghanistan in the first two weeks of November were undocumented.
Many who now end up in Afghanistan have never even visited the country before. This is because many were born in Pakistan, and Pakistan does not grant citizenship to Afghans born in the country.
45 years old Abdul Muhammad is a second-generation Afghan refugee born in Pakistan. He is on his way to Afghanistan with his family.
– I did not come of my own free will. They extorted money from us and took us to the police station, he says.
So Muhammad was not expelled. He, like many others, ended up leaving Pakistan because of the tense atmosphere.
The man says he is happy now; at least he doesn’t have to fear the authorities anymore.
Refugees as pawns in the disputes between Pakistan and Afghanistan
After the Taliban came to power in August 2021, at least 600,000 Afghans fled to Pakistan. Many did not have visas for the country, others have now expired. Many are still waiting in the country for visas to Western countries.
A large number of refugees now arriving in Spin Boldak seem to be from a completely different social class than many who fled the Taliban to Western countries.
Refugees who have lived in Pakistan for decades often belong to the same ethnic group as the majority of the Taliban, i.e. the Pathans.
The Taliban don’t seem to worry at least these people who come to Spin Boldak.
– I am happy that I am finally back in my home country, the 40-year-old who crossed the border the night before Rahmatullah assures. He decided to leave Pakistan after search and arrest operations began in his area of residence.
Refugees have acted as pawns in the disputes between Pakistan and Afghanistan for years. Now the reason for the deportations seems to be the increased terrorist attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, on the Pakistani side. According to Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban administration has not done enough to prevent terrorist activities on the Pakistani side.
– I don’t understand whether the Pakistanis are our friends or our enemies, Rahmatullah wonders.
The man worked as an imam of a mosque in Balochistan, Pakistan. He stayed in the country without a paper.
In Afghanistan, Rahmatullah is originally from the province of Uruzgan.
– We have no place to live there. I’m trying to get a job as an imam in Kandahar, he says and jumps over the wheel of his vehicle loaded with shells.
The goods sway menacingly as the car sets off along the bumpy road towards the city.