Pakistan

In the quiet classrooms of Pakistani universities, thousands of Afghan students – many in the last stretch of their advanced degrees – are living with an unrelenting countdown. On 31 August 2025, Pakistan’s government has ordered that all Afghan nationals must leave the country or face arrest and deportation.

The crisis has exposed Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate-driven disasters, underlining a pressing need for international support

Of Islamabad's approximately 41,520 registered Afghan citizens, many retain memories of earlier refuge. Before 2006, some 25,000 had lived in a refugee camp within the Islamabad Capital Territory.

For Pakistan, the challenge now is twofold: to address the immediate humanitarian needs of thousands of displaced people, and to commit to the long-term infrastructure, environmental and policy changes needed to withstand the storms of a warming world.

Terming forced religious conversion and forced marriage of Christian and Hindu minor girls to older Muslim men as the most concerning issue, the report notes that there are few legal options available to the victims.

While the removal of the death penalty for two relatively obscure crimes was welcomed by international rights groups, many activists argue the government’s action is insufficient.

Pakistan has sentenced 108 members of former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party to prison over their alleged involvement in protests against the military in May 2023.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had initially ordered the formation of a commission to probe the misuse of the law, but that decision was overturned last week, triggering outrage and disappointment among victims’ families.