Danger is increasing for believers in Pakistan and Afghanistan as freedom of expression is increasingly clamped down on and deportations continue to ramp up, with many facing life under Taliban rule.
Relations between the two nations, already infamous for their treatment of Christians, are hostile and this is perhaps reflected by the Pakistani state’s increasing rate of deportations and forced removals of Afghan refugees back across the border, leaving them facing ongoing Taliban rule.
A new report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has highlighted that over a million Afghans were removed from Pakistan last year, taking the total returned to Afghanistan since late 2023 to two million. Returns are believed to have continued this year, with over 77,000 deportations in January.
