As one war after another raged in Afghanistan, an estimated 3.5 million Afghans found relative safety living in Pakistan, including about 700,000 who fled across the border following the U.S. withdrawal in August 2021.
In 2023, the Pakistani government announced its intention to deport 3 million Afghans in its Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan. More than 800,000 Afghans then returned to their homeland from October 2023 through January 2025.
Deportations got underway in earnest in April of this year, with nearly 110,000 Afghan refugees deported to Afghanistan from April 3 to May 3.
