Afghan Refugees Caught Between Climate Hazards and Deportation in Karachi, Pakistan 

Guest post by Nasrat Sayed and Zulfiqar Kunbhar. Nasrat is a researcher whose work focuses on socio-economic, migration, and environmental issues in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Zulfiqar is an environmental journalist and researcher based in Karachi, Pakistan.  

On the Frontlines of Climate Hazards 

Each year, heavy rains and the resulting floods, as well as frequent and intense heatwaves, claim hundreds of lives across Pakistan, a country ranked among those most affected by extreme weather events. Pakistan is home to one of the largest populations of Afghan refugees, some of whom live in camps or informal urban settlements across the country, where they face both escalating climate impacts and deepening legal precarity. Among these, the recently demolished Afghan Basti, or Afghan Camp, located on the outskirts of climate-vulnerable Karachi, provides a cogent example of how climate vulnerability and legal precarity intersect.   

The Afghan Basti was established in the 1980s following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It was home to approximately 3,700 Afghan families, according to some community elders we met during our visit in May 2025.  

In October 2025, amid heightened tensions and border clashes between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban, the Pakistani government announced the closure of additional Afghan refugee camps, with plans to close all remaining ones. It also began demolishing Afghan Basti in Karachi as part of its broader repatriation policy and efforts to reclaim what it describes as encroached public land. 

Before the camp’s demolition, the elders described how recurring disasters had already caused multiple fatalities, both directly and indirectly. They emphasised the impact of climate change and legal uncertainty on residents' daily lives. Although the community had long experienced the effects of climate change, the severity of these impacts had worsened in recent years. For instance, between 2021 and 2025, heavy monsoon rains damaged hundreds of walls and caused homes with weak foundations or roofs to collapse, resulting in injuries and fatalities. Many residents hastily repaired their damaged walls and houses, while a few remained unrepaired, serving as visible reminders of the ongoing impacts of climate change. 

In addition to the monsoon rains, frequent and intense heatwaves also claimed lives. A community elder recalled one summer when a few men returned home to the camp from work at the Sabzi Market (a market selling vegetables, fruits, and other fresh produce), took showers, rested under ceiling fans, and then collapsed and died shortly afterward. 

Over time, as elders explained, many residents converted their homes from mud to concrete to protect against the impacts of climate change. However, concrete structures, especially roofs, trap heat. Some families installed solar panels, while others remained exposed to extreme temperatures due to unreliable grid electricity and the unaffordability of solar panels. 

Both the recurring heavy rains and deadly heatwaves were inseparable from legal precarity: Afghan refugees’ lack of secure legal status limited their mobility and options to respond to these hazards – a condition that Nicholas De Genova terms a regime of deportability.  

Everyday Survival 

Afghan refugees in Afghan Basti face several challenges, including: 

• Lack of health services: there were none inside the camp; emergency care from outside was often delayed or difficult to reach the camp.
• Schooling: one partially functioning Afghan school; teachers had been unpaid for approximately three years.
• Intermittent electricity: some families received less than six hours of grid electricity per day, and solar panels were unaffordable for many.
• No waste collection: garbage often clogged the canals and accumulated on streets. 

• No drainage: there was no formal drainage system, and the canals often overflowed during heavy rains due to rubbish, which increased the risk of flooding in the camp. 

  These conditions shaped everyday life in the camp before its demolition. A community elder showed us a canal that residents had cleaned together some time ago, but it had since filled with garbage again. 

Garbage clogs the canals, causing health problems. The camp has no healthcare services, and elders stated that the ambulance often takes over an hour to arrive, if they come at all, possibly because authorities give the camp a lower priority or drivers hesitate to enter. 

The lack of support from local authorities or municipal services compounds these challenges. According to the elders, international actors have significantly reduced their on-the-ground assistance, and the Afghan diaspora has never provided any support, including in areas such as health and education. 

On top of these everyday struggles, Pakistan’s migration policy began targeting Afghan refugees for deportation. This measure has now extended to the demolition of their homes, threatening the continued presence of those living in refugee camps across the country. 

Escalation of Deportation Pressures 

After more than four decades of hosting millions of documented and undocumented Afghan refugees, Pakistan launched the Illegal Foreigners' Repatriation Plan in 2023. This policy set a deadline for voluntary repatriation of undocumented Afghans before initiating mass deportations. Meanwhile, the Proof of Registration (PoR) cards of approximately 1.4 million documented Afghan refugees expired on June 30, 2025, further worsening their situation. In July, Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Mohsin Naqvi, confirmed that the deadline would not be extended, and deportations were scheduled to begin in September, which are currently underway. In October, alongside deportations, authorities also began demolishing Afghan Basti in Karachi, an action that could expand to other settlements of Afghan refugees located on public land in Pakistan. 

These policies and actions reflect increasingly stricter measures by Pakistan, portraying Afghan refugees as potential threats to its national security. Some other countries, both Western and non-Western, also use this approach to justify deportations and control migration. This is particularly concerning for Afghanistan, which already faces a ban on girls’ secondary and higher education, suspended development aid, a shrinking job market, and reports of arrest, torture, and killing of those who worked with the former government and security forces. Almost no pathways exist for the sustainable reintegration of returnees, and many other challenges remain. 

At the same time, Pakistan continues to receive millions in humanitarian aid for Afghan refugees, mainly from Western donors, including the EU. For example, in 2025, the European Commission announced €10 million in humanitarian assistance. The juxtaposition of this aid for refugees with increasingly restrictive policies leaves them caught between support and exclusion. 

Dual Vulnerability 

Afghan refugees face challenges similar to internally displaced Pakistanis living in Karachi’s informal settlements. Both groups endure the devastating effects of climate change and limited access to public services. However, what mainly separates the Afghan refugees from local IDPs is an additional challenge: legal precarity. Without valid legal documentation, authorities exclude them from even minimal protections and restrict their agency.  

For Afghan refugees, climate hazards and legal precarity do not operate independently but rather compound each other. A community elder highlighted that some refugees with expired or no legal documents may stay in their camp or refrain from moving to safer areas, even when they are aware that serious climate hazards are likely, because they fear arrest or detention by authorities. Since mass deportations began in 2023, the situation has worsened further for many Afghan refugees. Another elder noted that families have small businesses, debts, and children in school, making it impossible to abandon their lives overnight. They also see no viable options for reintegration in Afghanistan. 

This intersection of climate hazards and legal precarity aligns with De Genova’s concept of the regime of deportability and is consistent with insights from border criminology. Taken together, climate change and legal precarity continue to intensify survival challenges for Afghan refugees in Pakistan; however, since October, these challenges have escalated further with the closure of more Afghan refugee camps and the demolition of homes. The demolition of Afghan Basti in Karachi has transformed what was once a space of precarious survival into a scene of forced eviction. For Afghan refugees in Pakistan, and for those who until recently lived in Afghan Basti, climate change is no longer only about heavy rains, floods, and heatwaves; it has also meant forced displacement and deportation. Without legal safeguards, even humanitarian aid cannot prevent them from being caught at the intersection of climate impacts and state-led deportation policies. 

Any comments about this post? Get in touch with us! Send us an email, or find us on LinkedIn and BlueSky.