Afghan women's rights activists face deportation from Pakistan
What's the story
More than 50 prominent female Afghan women's rights activists living in Pakistan are facing the threat of deportation back to their home country.
The Pakistani government has pledged to repatriate millions of Afghan nationals under a stringent policy, following a significant decline in relations between the two countries and a spate of militant attacks along the border regions.
The activists fear imprisonment or death under Taliban rule.
Ongoing deportations
Deportations have been underway since September 2023
Since September 2023, Pakistan has been conducting deportations of Afghan refugees.
According to Amnesty International, more than 844,499 Afghan nationals have already been forcibly returned to Afghanistan, where they face a "real risk of persecution by the Taliban."
Those at risk include 60 female activists and human rights defenders, who fled after advocating for women's rights and education, or after participating in protests.
Forced hiding
Police raids have forced many into hiding
Recent police raids in Islamabad and Rawalpindi have pushed many activists into hiding.
Police have been carrying out door-to-door searches, arbitrarily arresting Afghans, and allegedly demanding huge bribes.
Humaira Alim, a women's rights and education activist who fled to Pakistan in December 2022 after receiving death threats from the Taliban for her activism, said her situation was an "awful nightmare."
Life at risk
Alim fears for her life if deported
Alim said she fears being sent back to Afghanistan: "If they send me back to Afghanistan, it only means death."
She said the Taliban have files on her activism, and that no place exists for women like her in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
Alim knows many other Afghan women activists, lawyers, and human rights defenders who are being harassed or tortured by the Taliban, and who are now hiding in Pakistan.
Death sentence
Avaaz campaigner condemns deportation to Taliban rule
Liliana Harrington, senior campaigner for Avaaz, an organization fighting for women, slammed the deportation: "Deporting these people to the Taliban is a death sentence."
Harrington accused Pakistan of leaving these brave people to their oppressors and relinquishing its history of sheltering vulnerable Afghans.
The Pakistani government has asked all undocumented Afghan nationals to exit the country by March 31, 2025, or risk arrest.
Asylum sought
Activists seek asylum in 3rd countries
The activists are now looking for more time to identify a third country that might take them in as asylum seekers. They are waiting on an offer from Brazil or other countries that might provide them a safe haven.
Condemning Pakistan's widespread expulsion of Afghan nationals, Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty's deputy regional director for South Asia, criticized the authorities for violating their rights without any accountability.