The Silent Struggle of Afghan Migrants in Neighboring Countries
AFGHANISTAN / Afghan Migrants / Human Rights
The Silent Struggle of Afghan Migrants in Neighboring Countries
SARA BAYAT
After spending months in a neighboring country, I came to realize just how heavy life can be for Afghan migrants. Many arrive with little more than the clothes on their backs, selling whatever they owned at home to cover visa fees, rent, or the registration documents required to live legally.
Yet even after these sacrifices, safety remains uncertain. Deportation can come suddenly, without explanation, leaving families who thought they had done everything “right” with nothing but fear and heartbreak.
In Tajikistan, some Afghan refugees have faced expulsion even though they held legal documents, including papers from the UN Refugee Agency. In certain cases, their identity cards were taken away, raising concerns about violations of international law and the principle of Protection from forced return, which is meant to protect people from being sent back to places where their safety is at risk. These events showed that even official paperwork does not always ensure security.
The picture is no brighter across the border in Iran, where millions of Afghans now live under the looming threat of expulsion. Temporary residency slips are frequently revoked, and those without documentation are denied access to schools, healthcare, or even basic housing. Deadlines are imposed with little warning, forcing families to uproot their lives once again, often within just weeks.
In Tajikistan too, Afghan refugees face restrictions on where they can live-many are prohibited from settling in major cities or border districts-leaving them isolated and economically vulnerable. Even for those who manage to stay, survival is precarious. Work is scarce and often exploitative. Training programs rarely lead to stable employment, and many find themselves trapped in cycles of informal labor, barely earning enough to cover rent or food.
On the streets, refugees face a constant social stigma. While tourists from other countries are welcomed with smiles, Afghans are too often treated as criminals or burdens, mocked and dismissed in daily encounters. The fear of being stopped, harassed, or deported means many rarely step outside their homes, living in a state of enforced invisibility.
What makes this crisis even more painful is that the fractures of Afghanistan itself-its long history of tribal and ethnic divisions-have followed its people across borders. In some cases, Afghans in host countries turn against one another, exploiting those differences, or feeding the prejudice that locals already hold. Instead of unity in exile, division is often used as fuel to further marginalize an already vulnerable community.
Behind all of this lies the same unchanging truth: Afghanistan’s decades of instability continue to exact their price on ordinary people. With no reliable system of governance to protect its citizens, Afghans are forced into countries where their lives are defined by temporary papers, precarious wages, and fragile acceptance. They remain at the mercy of governments that use them as political bargaining chips, of societies that scapegoat them, and of international systems that too often fail to provide lasting solutions.
The story of Afghan migrants in Tajikistan, Iran, Pakistan, and beyond is not just one of numbers or policies. It is the story of families who trade their belongings for a chance at safety, of children barred from classrooms, of men and women who leave their homes in hope but arrive only to be treated as less than human. It is a story of resilience, yes-but also of injustice that continues to unfold in silence.
References:
Al Jazeera. (2023, October 31). Pakistan begins mass deportation of Afghan migrants. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/31/pakistan-begins-mass-deportation-of-afghan-migrants
Amnesty International. (2022, August 23). Iran: Afghan refugees face harassment, arbitrary detention, and deportation. Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/08/iran-afghan-refugees-face-harassment-arbitrary-detention-and-deportation
Asia-Plus. (2025, August 14). Nearly 1,000 Afghan refugees forcibly expelled from Tajikistan – IOM. Asia-Plus. https://old.asiaplustj.info/en/news/tajikistan/economic/20250814/nearly-1000-afghan-refugees-forcibly-expelled-from-tajikistan-iom
Business Recorder / AFP. (2025, January 28). Tajikistan must stop expelling Afghan refugees: UN. Business Recorder. https://www.brecorder.com/news/40344878
Human Rights Watch. (2021, November 5). Pakistan: Stop unlawful deportation of Afghans. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/11/05/pakistan-stop-unlawful-deportation-afghans
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. (2023, November 1). Pakistan’s mass deportation of Afghans sparks humanitarian crisis. RFE/RL. https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-afghan-deportations-crisis/32662072.html
UNHCR. (2025, January 29). UNHCR calls on Tajikistan to halt forcible return of Afghan refugees and uphold international obligations. UNHCR Central Asia. https://www.unhcr.org/central-asia/en/news/unhcr-calls-tajikistan-halt-forcible-return-afghan-refugees-and-uphold
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