The Babar family’s suffering is rooted in a policy collapse: the Pakistani government has halted visa renewals for Afghan nationals, leaving countless families undocumented despite having previously paid renewal fees.
In the midst of monsoon rains and uncertainty, baby Daniyal Babar entered the world under a threadbare tent – not in a hospital, not in his family’s home – but in the open air after his mother was evicted on the very night of his birth.
Daniyal’s arrival is not a miracle story – it’s a chilling symbol of the desperate circumstances confronting Afghan refugees in Pakistan today. His mother, fresh from a surgical delivery, expected rest and care. Instead, she said, “After the operation, I expected to rest in my home and care for my baby. But on the same day, our landlord forced us out of the house. With my body still in pain and a newborn in my arms, we had nowhere to go but under an old, torn tent.”
Visa Freeze, Forced Displacement
The Babar family’s suffering is rooted in a policy collapse: the Pakistani government has halted visa renewals for Afghan nationals, leaving countless families undocumented despite having previously paid renewal fees. As Haseeb Babar, the infant’s father, lamented: “We were required to renew our visas every month. … But now, the government has stopped extending visas for Afghans. Even though we already paid, our visas are not renewed. Without legal documents, we have no rights here.”
Without legal status, families like the Babars cannot work legally, access healthcare, or afford secure housing. The combination of legal limbo and unchecked evictions has created a humanitarian flashpoint – with mothers recovering from childbirth forced to shelter in tents, exposed to the elements and disease.
Life Under a Leaking Tent
In Pakistan’s monsoon season, torrential rainfall turns makeshift tents into death traps. Haseeb describes the peril vividly: “Water comes from every direction into the tent. My wife is sick after surgery, burning with fever. My baby cries endlessly in my arms. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.”
This isn’t a remote crisis; such scenes are repeating across Pakistan. In Islamabad, hundreds of Afghan families – some with valid refugee documentation – have been evicted from homes and now survive in parks beneath plastic sheets, with minimal access to food, shelter, or medical aid. The UNHCR has urged Pakistani authorities not to forcibly return refugees and to establish an effective registration mechanism to protect those at risk of persecution.
On the national level, Pakistan has resumed forced deportations of some 1.4 million Afghan refugees, whose Proof of Registration (PoR) cards expired at the end of June 2025. The government declined international calls to extend the deadline and has maintained a house-to-house enforcement policy. The UNHCR decried the move as a violation of international obligations, warning of its “potential humanitarian and regional security risks”.
What Can Change
- Resume visa renewals, at least temporarily, for Afghan nationals to avoid forcing families into invisibility and destitution.
- Deploy emergency aid: mobile clinics, maternal care units, shelter support, especially in monsoon-impacted areas.
- Implement humane registration: a functioning, inclusive system to allow refugees and asylum-seekers to remain safely while documentation is processed.
- Mobilize international actors, such as UNHCR and IOM, to protect rights, coordinate aid, and advocate for legal safeguards.
For the Babar family, the birth of a child – a universal symbol of hope – has instead become a moment of desperation. Daniyal’s earliest hours were marked not by warmth and welcome, but by exposure and vulnerability.
Pakistan has hosted Afghan refugees for more than four decades. Many have built lives here, contributed to commerce, culture, and the social fabric of cities and towns. Now, rolling back protections and rejecting responsibility risks unravelling peerless community bonds.
