For Zuhra Bibi*, life has become a never-ending nightmare. Trapped in a cramped, dark room with her young daughter, she dreads every knock on the door, terrified it might be the moment she’s sent back to the life she risked everything to flee.
“I have no way back. I am a single mother living in this room with one of my little daughters,” she says, her voice trembling.
A women’s rights activist, Zuhra fled Afghanistan after facing beatings and threats. But even in exile, she remains unsafe.
“If the police force me across the border into Afghanistan, my life will be at risk. My brother-in-law is threatening to kill me and take my daughter away. Please, help me save my life. I have nowhere else to go.”
Zuhra’s plea is echoed by dozens of Afghan women in Pakistan—former activists, educators, athletes—who once stood for change in Afghanistan and now live in hiding, fearing arrest or deportation.
Across Pakistan, Afghan women who fled persecution under the Taliban now face another grim reality: surviving without legal protection, financial support, or clarity on their future.
No country, no protection
Safoora Pezhman*, another asylum seeker, said she and her sisters—also activists—fled to Pakistan in search of safety. “We need urgent assistance to be safe from deportation,” she said. “I reached out to UNHCR for help, but I don’t know if anyone is listening.”
Nargis Shehzadi*, once a professor and women’s rights advocate, said she arrived in Pakistan hoping for stability. Instead, she found betrayal and illness.
“I got married to a man I trusted,” she said. “But after two years, his family left for another country, blocking all contact with me. They deceived me. They left me alone with a baby and a world of sadness.”
Now battling breast cancer without access to medication, Nargis pleads for help. “Please help me. Believe me, I have no medicine. I have nothing.”
For some, even past accomplishments have become liabilities. Mashayum*, a former football player in Afghanistan, said her life is in danger due to her public role as a female athlete.
“We are in a very bad situation,” she said. “Aren’t UNHCR or IOM supposed to help us? UNHCR doesn’t even answer our calls. What should we do?”
She fears deportation could be deadly. “We have life threats because we were sportswomen, and there is no acceptance for us. Please, save us.”
She added that during a police raid the previous night, her husband was taken into custody, and she has no idea where he is.
Fearful living, fragmented families
For Rughdana Begum*, the struggle is financial as much as it is emotional.
“I have no money to pay my rent, gas, electricity, or water bills,” she said. “I am drowning in debt. I don’t understand the purpose of having a caseworker if it doesn’t bring any help. I have shared my problems with IOM and UNHCR, but there has been no support. What is the point of speaking if nothing changes?”
Nighat, another Afghan woman with an expired visa, said the fear of being arrested or deported keeps her and her family indoors.
“The police have come to our house twice, demanding documents we no longer have,” she said. “We are afraid to leave our home because they constantly harass us. My husband is pressuring me to return to Afghanistan, but I know that is not an option for me.”
FILE PHOTO: Police officers, along with workers from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), check the identity cards of Afghan citizens during a door-to-door search and verification drive for undocumented Afghan nationals, in an Afghan Camp on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan, November 21, 2023.Reuters
“The thought of facing my mother-in-law, the Taliban, and all the hardships waiting for me is unbearable,” she said. Despite repeated appeals to UNHCR, she says she has received no response.
“Even a small update would give me hope—hope that one day, I might reach a peaceful country where I can live and work independently.”
Mishaal*, a young Afghan woman in Rawalpindi, said her family of seven was forced to move to Karachi in search of shelter.
“It’s been almost two weeks, and they still haven’t found a home,” she said. “They are living in one tiny room, paying 2,000 rupees per night. Nobody should have to live like this.”
Her father, who suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure, is struggling to care for his five daughters and two sons. “I try to stay optimistic,” she said.
“But my family is drowning in despair. Even my 12-year-old sister cries, asking why life has to be this hard. She thought leaving Afghanistan would bring a better future, but she sees now that safety is still out of reach.”
Gender-based violence: A silent weapon
At the heart of these stories is a shared thread: gender-based violence.
The women quoted in this article are registered with a Pakistani NGO working with Afghan women. The NGO provided documentation supporting their cases but was reluctant to go on record, fearing government reprisal.
These women are not only refugees—they are survivors of trauma, discrimination, and neglect. From domestic abuse to systemic exclusion, they say they’ve been failed at every turn.
When contacted by Dota UNHCR spokesperson, Qaiser Khan Afridi, said: “Women do contact us, and they are registered with us.” When asked how many calls the agency received from survivors of gender-based violence and single-headed households, Afridi responded: “We will have to check and provide an update next week.”
Afridi also said there has been no official communication from Pakistan’s government regarding any extension to the March 31 deadline for Afghan deportations. A senior official dealing with international media similarly confirmed that rumors of a deadline extension circulating on social media are false.
Human rights activists have condemned Pakistan’s handling of Afghan refugees. Farzana Bari, a women’s rights advocate, told Dot that Pakistan has adopted an “inhumane policy” toward Afghan refugees, particularly women.
“Many Afghan women face life-threatening dangers in their country. With the United States and European countries turning their backs, Pakistan should help these women on humanitarian grounds. This is a highly vulnerable group,” she said.
Bari also criticized UNHCR’s lack of engagement, calling it “appalling” and “condemnable”.
Farhatullah Babar, a senior politician from the Pakistan People’s Party, said the forced deportation of Afghan refugees is unfolding into a humanitarian disaster.
“Working women and those in media, education, film, and art—targeted by the Taliban—fled Afghanistan after August 2021. Now they have been thrown into a bottomless pit of fear, uncertainty, and hopelessness,” he said.
Babar accused the Pakistani state of using Afghan refugees for political gain without offering legal protections. “There has been no refugee legislation in four decades because the state wants to retain control and avoid accountability,” he said.
“The decision-makers will have to live down the humanitarian disaster they have caused. They seek to justify these expulsions in the name of national security, but hopelessness and fear only make it easier for militants to recruit these desperate individuals.”
Dot made several attempts to obtain comments from Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Information, and district magistrate offices, but received no response.
* The identities of individuals mentioned in this article have been changed to protect their privacy and ensure their safety.
