Tajikistan Expels Afghan Refugees Amid Widening Regional Deportation Wave July 13, 2025 Dushanbe, Tajikistan

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📰 Tajikistan Expels Afghan Refugees Amid Widening Regional Deportation Wave
🗓️ July 13, 2025
📍Dushanbe, Tajikistan

📄 The government of Tajikistan has initiated a mass deportation of Afghan refugees, echoing similar actions recently undertaken by Iran and Pakistan. According to the Times of Central Asia, Afghan nationals are being arrested at workplaces and homes without prior warning and either repatriated or held in detention centers for immediate deportation.

Reports indicate that even refugees holding official documentation from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have been detained indiscriminately. Approximately 9,000 Afghan refugees are registered in Tajikistan, many of whom are former civil servants or anti-Taliban activists — individuals who face serious risks if returned to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

The deportations come amid a broader trend across the region. Iran and Pakistan — which collectively host around six million Afghan refugees — have ramped up forced returns. Since June 1, more than 450,000 Afghans have been deported from Iran alone, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

UNHCR previously confirmed that at least 80 Afghan refugees were deported from Tajikistan in late 2024, urging authorities to halt further expulsions. The refugee crisis escalated after the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, following the withdrawal of U.S. forces after two decades of war.

Analysts warn that the regional trend of refugee deportations could worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. As Iran, Pakistan, and now Tajikistan tighten their refugee policies, tens of thousands of Afghans face the threat of persecution or death upon return. The pattern also signals a weakening of international refugee protections and may embolden the Taliban regime, which remains largely unrecognized but effectively insulated by regional political inertia. The UN and global humanitarian actors may soon face mounting pressure to intervene diplomatically or risk a deteriorating crisis that could extend beyond Afghanistan’s borders.

🔗 Reported from Dushanbe, Tajikistan – World News Humanitarian Desk

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