At a time when Afghanistan is reeling from the twin crises of forced returns and natural disasters, Afghan refugees in Pakistan particularly in Balochistan are finding themselves caught in an increasingly hostile environment.
On Friday, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said that the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has documented a sharp rise in Afghan returns under Pakistan’s “Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan.” Since April, more than 554,000 Afghans have crossed back into Afghanistan, including 143,000 in August alone. The pace of return has surged further, with nearly 100,000 people crossing back in the first week of September.
“The timing could not be worse,” Dujarric said, pointing out that many returnees are heading to the same eastern provinces that were devastated by a powerful earthquake last month. Entire communities are struggling to recover, while returnees arrive with little more than what they can carry.
UNHCR has been providing cash support, protection, and essential services at border points and in areas of return. However, these efforts have been hampered in recent days as the de facto authorities in Afghanistan barred female UN staff from entering UN compounds, forcing UNHCR to temporarily suspend its support centres.
The human toll of these crises is most visible among children. According to UNICEF, at least 1,172 children died in the Kunar and Nangarhar earthquake, accounting for more than half the overall death toll. More than half a million people have been affected, with 263,000 children now facing heightened risks of malnutrition, disease, and exploitation.
UNICEF reports that 45 children have been separated from their families and 271 newly orphaned. Mobile health and nutrition teams are scrambling to provide trauma care in a context where needs are far greater than resources.
While Afghanistan struggles to cope, the pressure is also mounting on Afghan communities in Pakistan. In Quetta, authorities have launched a crackdown on schools run by Afghan refugees. More than 30 schools are operating in areas such as Hazara Town, Pashtoonabad, Alamdar Road, Kharotabad, and Qambrani, serving an estimated 12,000 Afghan boys and girls. These institutions, run by Afghan teachers and serving refugee children, now face the threat of closure and deportation.
Officials have issued stern warnings, with plans to seal the schools and send both teachers and students back across the border. For many families, this means the abrupt end of education for their children. Parents who had hoped to shield their sons and daughters from the uncertainty of displacement by giving them schooling now find themselves once again at risk of losing everything.
Human rights observers note that targeting refugee schools not only deprives children of education but also pushes families further into despair. “These children are already among the most vulnerable in the world,” one Quetta-based rights activist said. “Closing their schools means closing off their future.”
The atmosphere in refugee neighborhoods is tense. Teachers, many of them refugees themselves, fear arrest or deportation. Students whisper anxiously about whether their classrooms will still exist tomorrow. “My daughter is 10 years old and dreams of becoming a doctor,” said an Afghan mother in Hazara Town. “If her school closes, that dream will die.”
At least 3.7 million Afghans are living in Pakistan, according to UNHCR, with more than 800,000 registered in Balochistan alone. Local officials in Quetta say the closure of Afghan-run schools is part of the broader repatriation plan being implemented across the country.
Humanitarian groups, however, warn that thousands of refugee children risk being left without access to education. “If schools are sealed, these children will have nowhere to go,” said a community teacher in Quetta. “It will push many families into making the difficult choice of returning to Afghanistan, even when conditions there are unsafe.”