Human Rights Watch said in a report that the Pakistani government is “using threats, abuse, and detention to coerce Afghan asylum seekers without legal status to return to Afghanistan or face deportation by November 1 this year.

Many Afghans at risk of being deported, the HRW said, “are awaiting resettlement to the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada.

It also called on the governments of the US, UK, Germany, and Canada to expedite resettlement for Afghans from Pakistan who are particularly at risk, including women and girls, human rights activists, and journalists.

“Broad calls by Pakistani officials for mass deportation have instigated increased police abuse against Afghans, including harassment, assault, and arbitrary detention,” the HRW said. “While not explicitly stated, Afghans slated for deportation are unlikely to be given the opportunity to challenge the action.”

Pakistan's decision to expel Afghan refugees has also faced strong reactions from Afghan politicians.

But the caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan, Anwarul Haq Kakar, stressed that the Afghan refugees are being deported based on law.

“We are encouraging them to go on their own will. We deport them based on law. It is the law that gives us this right that we expel them,” he said.

Nasser Ahmad Faiq, Chargé d'Affaires of Afghanistan's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, wrote on X: “Urgent action needed: Despite calls from UN officials, Pakistan is expelling Afghan refugees, violating international human rights conventions."

Faiq urged the European Commission; Tomas Niklasson, Special Envoy of the European Union for Afghanistan; Felipe González Morales, UN Specia Rapporteur on Human Rights of Migrants/Relator Especial ONU DDHH Migrants; Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls; and UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett “to address this crisis, protect vulnerable lives, and prevent forced expulsion.”

Hannah Neumann, a German member of the EU parliament, called for the attention of the European Union to the situation of the Afghan refugees in Pakistan, saying that “it was EU among others who said Afghans fleeing from Taliban should go there.”

“There are about 1.2 million. Where should they go?,” she questioned.

The Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) said that it will provide educational opportunities for the students who are returning from Pakistan.