![\"\"](\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-14-094119.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPakistan currently hosts over 1.3 million registered Afghan refugees, with estimates of unregistered individuals pushing the total closer to 3 million. Since the Taliban\u2019s 2021 takeover, Pakistan has intensified crackdowns, citing security concerns and economic strain. In 2024 alone, over 600,000 Afghans were forcibly repatriated, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The Women\u2019s Freedom Movement warns that deportations expose returnees to Taliban reprisals, including gender-based violence and arbitrary detention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The movement\u2019s demands align with broader international criticism. Human Rights Watch recently condemned Pakistan\u2019s actions as violations of non-refoulement principles, which prohibit returning refugees to life-threatening conditions. Meanwhile, the UN reports global displacement has reached a record 83.4 million, with Afghans comprising the second-largest refugee group after Syrians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parallel developments underscore the crisis\u2019s urgency. On May 14, the Taliban expressed willingness to negotiate with the U.S. on refugee returns following the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghans in America. Simultaneously, protests erupted in Iowa against similar U.S. policy shifts, reflecting global tensions over refugee protections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Women\u2019s Freedom Movement has called for immediate visa extensions and humanitarian intervention, stressing that silence equates to complicity. \u201cThese refugees fled Taliban brutality\u2014they must not be forced back into it,\u201d the statement emphasized. Advocates urge the international community to pressure Pakistan and accelerate resettlement programs, as safe third-country options dwindle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Afghan Women\u2019s Freedom Movement has issued an urgent plea to Pakistan to cease the detention of Afghan refugees, particularly women, children, and activists, amid escalating fears of deportation to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, Khaama Press reported. In a statement released on May 12, 2025, the group highlighted the dire conditions faced by refugees who fled Taliban …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":124828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[5909,14335,14336],"class_list":["post-124807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afghanistan","tag-afghan-refugees-in-pakistan","tag-deportation-campaign","tag-womens-freedom-movement"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-14-094203.png\")
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