Overview

• Following Pakistan's mass deportation, the Taliban appeals to Afghanistan's private sector to assist returning refugees who face depleting opportunities and a major humanitarian crisis.
• Overwhelming numbers of returning Afghans are settling in camps near the Torkham Pakistan-Afghanistan border, just hours before Pakistan's government deadline for those without legal documentation to leave or face deportation.
• Exhausted and frightened Afghan refugees fear heightened detention and harsh treatment amidst Pakistan's ever-increasing anti-migrant crackdown; many have made the desperate journey back home before the October 31 deadline.
• The Taliban has established a commission to ease the return of refugees, providing essential services including temporary shelter, food, health care, and transportation to their final destinations.
• Pakistan's stringent anti-migrant policy has strained relations with the Taliban, who have condemned Pakistan's government for its one-sided actions and warned it to 'face the consequences' of such actions.