Taliban voices serious concern over reported US plan to deport Afghans via Pakistan

Afghanistan's Taliban authorities have voiced serious concern over reported plans by Washington to deport more than 150 Afghan nationals to Pakistan for eventual return to Afghanistan. The reported removals would include relatives of people who assisted US forces before the 2021 withdrawal, according to the supporting material. The issue has drawn attention because the people affected are said to include Afghans who may not yet have secured legal residency documents in Pakistan.

Taliban foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a statement that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was expressing its serious concern over reports that the United States intended to deport some Afghan refugees to Pakistan. He urged the United States to take a responsible and measured approach and to make any decisions with mutual understanding, coordination and respect for the rights and legitimate demands of those concerned. The reported plan has been described in the supporting material as involving Afghan nationals in the United States who would be sent via Pakistan rather than directly to Afghanistan.

Advocacy groups have warned that removing former allies and their families could put their lives at risk. The supporting material says the group AfghanEvac believes some of those expected to be deported are relatives of Afghans who helped the US military before the fall of Kabul. The United Nations has also recorded reports of extrajudicial killings, detentions and abuses in Afghanistan, which adds to concern among rights groups about the safety of returnees.

The reported plan comes against the backdrop of broader US immigration restrictions and efforts to end deportation protections for some Afghans. The supporting material says President Donald Trump's administration last year issued travel bans for a number of countries, including Afghanistan, as part of a wider immigration crackdown. It also sought to end deportation protections for Afghans, including some who were granted special immigrant visas after the Taliban takeover in 2021.

The issue is politically sensitive because it involves people linked to the US military presence in Afghanistan before the withdrawal. Taliban authorities have repeatedly said this year that former opponents could safely return home, and after regaining power they announced a general amnesty for Afghans who worked with Western-backed forces and governments. Human rights groups, however, have continued to question whether those assurances are reliable in practice, particularly for people associated with the previous government or foreign forces.

What remains unclear is how many people would ultimately be affected, when any deportations might begin, and what formal role Pakistan would play in the process. The supporting material says anonymous US officials told The New York Times that Pakistan would oversee the expulsion to Afghanistan, but the reported plan has not been fully detailed in the available material. The next developments to watch are whether Washington confirms the arrangement, whether Pakistan accepts any role, and whether advocacy groups or Afghan officials mount further objections.

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