Displacement of Hundreds of Afghan Families in Islamabad Park

Photo: Akhtar Soomro / Reuters

Hundreds of Afghan families, after pressure from the Pakistani government and being evicted from rented houses by landlords, have been forced to take shelter in Argentina Park in Islamabad. These families are now living in harsh and unsanitary conditions and face an uncertain future.

According to Pakistani media, about 300 Afghan families remain stranded in the park following shifts in U.S. and Western policies toward migrants and increased pressure from the Pakistani government. Among them are former Afghan women police officers who say they were forced to flee the country after threats and violence from the Taliban.

Reuters has also reported that Afghan migrants are enduring life under plastic tents in Islamabad Park amid heavy rainfall.

Quoting Samia, a 26-year-old woman who gave birth three weeks ago, Reuters wrote: “When my son was seven days old, I came here. We have been living in this park for 22 days now. My son was sick, but there was no doctor to treat him.”

Another pregnant woman in the park, Sahera Babur, said: “If my child is born in these conditions, what will happen to us?” She added that Pakistani police ordered her landlord to evict her family solely because they are Afghan.

According to sources, Islamabad police have repeatedly told these families to leave the park or face eviction and arrest. These refugees say they are trapped between threats and homelessness, and that returning to Afghanistan would mean facing the risk of death.

Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has described the situation of these families as “precarious” and called for the establishment of a registration mechanism in Pakistan. The agency stressed that no refugee should be returned to a country where their life is at risk.

Reports indicate that since 2023 alone, more than one million Afghan migrants have been deported from Pakistan, including over 200,000 since April this year. At the same time, Iran is also planning to expel more than one million additional Afghan migrants, a process that aid organizations describe as the largest refugee return crisis since the Taliban’s return to power.