Tamkin Mehrabuddin and her sister were preparing lunch in their home in Tajikistan when police officers knocked on their door.
The two Afghan women were ordered to accompany them to a police station in Dushanbe, the Tajik capital. Instead, they were driven for nearly three hours to the border and forced back to their homeland.
“My sister was crying, and we pleaded with the officers not to send us back to Afghanistan,” said Mehrabuddin, whose brother was also deported from Tajikistan.
The 24-year-old said she and her sister both had valid visas to reside in Tajikistan, adding that their residency documents were confiscated by the police the day before their deportation.
Mehrabuddin and her sister are among the scores of Afghans who have been deported in recent weeks from neighboring Tajikistan, which is home to some 10,000 Afghans. Her brother, who lived separately from them, was also deported.
The deportations have triggered anger in Tajikistan, an authoritarian country where criticism of the authorities is rare.
No Official Reason
Many of the deportees were abruptly summoned by the police and expelled without any due process, despite having temporary visas or documents showing they have been registered as refugees.
The move has triggered fear that they could face possible retribution in their homeland, which has been under the Taliban’s repressive rule since 2021, although no country has formally recognized the extremist group's government.
Afghanistan’s consulate in Tajikistan’s eastern city of Khorugh, which represents the Taliban-led administration in Kabul, said that around 60 Afghans were expelled from Tajikistan in December.
“They had their documents in order, and I don’t know what the reason for their expulsion was,” said a consulate officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Nusratullo Mahmadzoda, a spokesperson for Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry, said he was not aware of the deportations, adding that foreigners are deported if they “do not follow immigration rules.”
But the Dushanbe office of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said at least 37 of the Afghans deported had refugee status.
Police Harassment
Tajikistan, which shares a border of around 1,300 kilometers with Afghanistan, is home to documented and undocumented Afghan migrants and refugees.
Some have lived in the Central Asian country for decades, while others fled there after the Western-backed Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban seized power in 2021.
Most of Tajikistan’s Afghan community live in the town of Vahdat, which is on the outskirts of Dushanbe.
Tajikistan is seen by many Afghans as a transit country from where they hope to reach the West.
“My sister and I lived in Dushanbe for two years before moving [abroad],” said Leena, a 25-year-old Afghan who only gave her first name.
Leena worked as a waitress in a coffee shop but said she “did not see any future” for herself in Tajikistan.
"Tajik police often harass Afghans to extort bribes," she said. "A police officer in our neighborhood in Dushanbe knew where I lived and would blackmail me with a deportation threat to get money."
Roya Hafizi moved to Tajikistan with her husband and five young children in 2020. Last month, her husband and several other Afghans were taken to a police station.
“Later my husband called me from the border to say that he was being deported,” said Hafizi. “My husband is an ordinary worker. We don’t harm anyone and haven’t committed any crime.”
Hafizi’s husband was the family’s sole breadwinner, and his deportation has left the family with no source of income to buy food or pay rent.
Tajikistan usually does not provide income support and welfare benefits to refugees and migrants.
Possible Retribution
In a statement issued on December 7, the UNHCR office in Dushanbe expressed “grave concern” over the forcible return of Afghans and urged the Tajik government to halt the deportations and uphold its “obligations to protect those fleeing persecution.”
Some Tajik have taken to social media to criticize the move.
Tajikistan and Afghanistan have deep linguistic, cultural, and historical ties, and Tajiks have called on the authorities to better protect Afghans.
Social media users have been particularly critical of the deportation of Mehrabuddin, a graduate of the Technological University in Dushanbe.
On social media, Mehrabuddin had recently complained of “psychological abuse” at the hands of her husband, an Afghan who was living in Tajikistan. Her allegations prompted the Tajik authorities to launch an investigation.
Some Tajiks on social media said Mehrabuddin could face torture or death in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has severely curtailed women’s rights.
Other Tajik social media users recalled how tens of thousands of Tajiks took refuge in Afghanistan during Tajikistan’s civil war in the 1990s.
Taliban officials did not respond to RFE/RL’s request for comment.
Tajikistan had previously come under criticism by the UNHCR for deporting scores of Afghans in 2021 and 2022.
The latest expulsions come as Afghan migrants and refugees are under increased pressure in neighboring countries.
Iran has vowed to deport millions of Afghans in the Islamic republic. Pakistan, meanwhile, has deported nearly 800,000 since late 2023.
