Quetta: Both Aamir Muhammad and his neighbours have scarcely left their homes in recent weeks. The terror is evident in his run-down suburb on the outskirts of the Pakistani city of Quetta, where hundreds of Afghan refugees have settled.
Like many here, Muhammad, 47, is an illegal refugee who fled Afghanistan after the country fell to the Taliban in 2021.
He and 14 family members crossed the border into Quetta out of fear for the harshness of the Taliban government and for the security of her children. Together, they all reside in a small mud hut in terrible poverty in Pakistan, but he is able to obtain employment and food, and his wife has freedom that she would not have in Afghanistan.
However, Muhammad is now afraid that the police may take him from his house. An unexpected declaration was issued earlier this month by the Pakistani government, telling any migrants who were staying in the country illegally to leave within 28 days or face arrest and expulsion.
Though Afghans were not mentioned directly, it was clear they are the target of the draconian policy, and thousands have been rounded up and harassed since then.
Muhammad says all that awaits him in Afghanistan is death. “Life is not possible there – we won’t get a shelter for our family nor will we have resources to earn there,” he says.“Even if the Pakistani authorities arrest me and send me [to Afghanistan], I will try to come back,” he adds.
Brightly painted trucks piled high with household goods wait in a line as men mill about
The belongings of Afghan refugees deported from Pakistan wait in trucks to cross the Torkham border last week.