Islamabad [Pakistan], October 27 : Afghan nationals recently deported from Pakistan have reported a sharp escalation in arbitrary detentions, midnight home raids, and financial extortion in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, following the federal government's enforcement of governor’s rule and a state of emergency in the province, TOLO News reported.
Deportees recounted that routine life had become increasingly hostile, with Pakistani police conducting frequent searches of their residences and severely curtailing their freedom of movement. Several returnees noted that detentions on flimsy pretexts had become commonplace, often accompanied by demands for bribes from law enforcement personnel in exchange for release.
Sharing his ordeal, Mohammad Rahman, a returnee, told the TOLO news that his family had originally shifted from Punjab to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during former Prime Minister Imran Khan's tenure due to relatively better conditions. However, the situation deteriorated drastically after Islamabad declared an emergency and imposed governor's rule, leaving refugees unable to step outdoors without facing the threat of arbitrary arrest and coercion.
Another deportee, Sohail Khan, pointed out that authorities systematically carried out nocturnal raids on residential premises while targeting and intimidating refugees at local bazaars during the day to extort money. Displaced families described being picked up from their workplaces and enduring humiliating treatment before being deported.
The intensified clampdown comes as nearly 27,000 Afghan refugees have crossed back into Afghanistan through the Torkham border terminal over the past three months alone. Officials stationed at the Omari Temporary Settlement near Torkham confirmed that administrative mechanisms, including twelve dedicated support committees, remain operational to deliver essential relief and handle a potential rise in arrivals.
Meanwhile, addressing the resettlement challenges, the Taliban-led Ministry of Urban Development and Housing stated that more than 74,000 residential land plots have been distributed to returning families across 22 provinces. The ministry confirmed that land has been earmarked in 27 dedicated townships, with 37 master development blueprints formally approved to facilitate reintegration.