For Hazara people, living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan “felt like a prison”. But a crackdown on undocumented foreigners in Pakistan is putting their future in jeopardy, as they face increasingly frequent police raids and deportation.
The Independent Mirror reported that Shakeba has seen police raids on her neighbourhood but so far they haven’t been to her house. She’s terrified that she or her family will be picked up if they leave its four walls – they’ve been in hiding for the last three weeks.
“Our faces look different. Even if we wear Pakistani clothes, we are easily identifiable. They identify us and shout ‘Afghani, Afghani!’.” In the last two months, more than 400,000 people have crossed from Pakistan to Afghanistan.
A highly uncertain future awaits them – some are staying in camps, others have set off across the country to start life again, often taking little with them as winter approaches.
