UNDER an unforgiving Karachi sun, Qari Zaeen­uddin and his daughter patiently stand outside Ameen House — a hostel turned detention centre — in the Sultanabad locality.

A frail man dressed in a shalwar kameez and white topi, Zaeenuddin clutches a file close to his chest. The girl, whose face is hidden behind a veil, carries a blo­ated backpack clearly too heavy for her petite frame.

Both are sweating profusely, but wait silently for their turn. When the local station house officer makes an appearance, they rush to him, but are told to keep waiting.

His daughter recently got married, but on the third day of Eid, her husband was arrested from a shop in Banaras.

“He lost his [Proof of Registration] PoR card, and so they took him,” he says.

Zaeenuddin made several visits to the local police station before he was told that his son-in-law had been sent to Ameen House.

“I have come here with all the documents,” he points to the file. Inside is his daughter’s neatly stapled PoR card, marriage certificate, birth certificate and vaccination cards.

“I have one request: either let him out or take my daughter in too so that they can both go to Afghanistan together … what will she do here alone?” he cries.

“I will wait all day if need be, but I won’t leave unless I’m given a definitive answer.” And so Zaeenuddin continues to stand outside the hostel, until one of the policemen offers him a seat.

In recent days, hundreds of Afghans have been seen dragging their belongings across the Torkham and Chaman borders, as the government began its second wave of deportations on March 31, targeting those holding Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC).

The drive is part of a larger campaign that the government began in 2023 to repatriate all illegal foreigners.

In 2017, Pakistan, in collaboration with the Afghan government, introduced the ACCs, which were to be issued to those who could not obtain the PoR cards for some reason.

The estimated number of ACC holders is around 840,000.

At an hour’s distance from Ameen House, fear is palpable on the streets of Afghan Basti — a four-decade-old settlement located on the outskirts of Karachi. The road leading up to the camp is almost deserted, but deeper inside the narrow and uneven lanes, the first signs of life appear.

“Here, we are safe,” says resident and tailor Ibadullah. “Most of us have not stepped outside for almost a week now for the fear of being arrested.”

A crackdown on the basti a few days back has left his neighbourhood shaken.

“They say we are living here illegally… we were born and raised here, how can we be illegal? These PoR cards were given to us by the government,” Ibadullah says.

The PoR cards were introduced in collaboration with UNHCR and issued to over 2.15 million Afghan refugees between 2006 and 2007. These cards were valid for two years, after which they would have to be renewed every two years.

Under them, refugees can avail benefits such as opening a bank account, getting jobs and acquiring education.

As per Advocate Muniza Kakar, the government’s deportation deadline for PoR card holders currently stands at June 30. Most of the residents of the Afghan Basti hold PoR cards, which means they aren’t being deported yet. But that does not ease their fear or anxiety.

Final formalities

Ameen House was officially designated as an Afghan detention centre in 2023. Dawn visited the tightly guarded centre, but was not allowed inside the facility. The hostel sits next to the Rangers headquarters, near Haji Camp.

Outside, there are hardly any signs that it is a detention centre, only the flurry of activity — most of which takes place at night — signifies that something is happening inside.

According to Deputy Inspector General-South Asad Raza, the hostel is a “bare minimum shelter home that provides lodging and food”.

Nadra and FIA teams are also on hand for verification and biometric scans. These are used in preparing lists or a “manifest document”, DIG Raza explains. This includes the refugees’ names, IDs, picture, age, gender and the border through which they are set to enter Afghanistan.

“In case an Afghan with a PoR card is brought in, they will be handed back to the respective police station,” he says.

Once the manifest is prepared, the refugees are all loaded onto buses and taken to the Chaman border via Jacobabad. At the border, the “manifest document” is shared with officials from the UNHCR and the Afghan government. For the refugees, those moments are their last in Pakistan before they enter a country that they, or their parents, were once forced to flee.

A detailed version of this article can be accessed on Dawn.com

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2025