Refugees who went to Balkh province after being deported from Pakistan said that some of their family members are still imprisoned in Pakistan.

They complained about the bad treatment of Pakistani soldiers and said that when they returned, their property was stolen in Pakistan.

“There were two men in the house, they took one, and then they took our money; after a lot of harassment, we were deported,” said Sayed Ilyas, a deported refugee.

“We are happy here, we eat bread, but we will not go there again, even if they give us money,” said Mohammad, a deported refugee.

The returnees in Balkh are asking the authorities to provide work and permanent shelter.

“We did not see any benefit from foreign property, now we hope to do something in our country for the future of our homeland and people,” said Mohammad Khan, a deported refugee.

“I had spent ten lakhs of Pakistani money and had built a property for myself and had five or six lakhs of household goods, of which there were nearly twenty lakhs left,” said Zahir Shah, a deported refugee.

Meanwhile, the head of the Refugees and Repatriation Department in Balkh who went to the special camp for migrants to distribute aid to newly deported families assured them of the efforts aimed at creating permanent shelter.

“We, all government departments and partner institutions, pledge that we are at their service. Just as the officials in this temporary camp are at their service, we assure you that we will bring them [migrants] to their original places,” said Asadullah Wafa, head of the Refugees and Repatriation Department in Balkh.

According to the Refugees and Repatriation Department in Balkh, after the beginning of the process of deporting Afghan immigrants by the Pakistani government, so far 2,500 families, who number around 8,000 people, have been returned to Balkh province.