Ethnic Kazakhs from Afghanistan Caught in Arrests and Deportations Amid Border Tensions

The situation for ethnic Kazakhs living in Pakistan is becoming increasingly alarming. Following renewed clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, police have begun large-scale detentions of refugees — including ethnic Kazakhs who have lived in the country for decades, Orda.kz reports.

According to residents, arrests and deportations are taking place weekly. One detainee, Islamuddin Latifi, managed to speak to Pakistani journalists from behind bars.

Karachi resident Hameed Ullah Jorabai told Orda.kz that Latifi’s entire family had been taken.

We came from Afghanistan 45 years ago. We’re Kazakhs. The Pakistani Ministry of the Interior issued us a document that protected us from arrest while our case was being resolved. But the police still arrested us,
said Islamuddin.

Latifi earned his living selling vegetables. His father, Abdul Latif, and brother, Saifullah, were detained with him. Hameed Ullah showed Orda.kz a copy of their official document confirming their protected status.

This document states that these people are Kazakhs, their status is being verified by Kazakhstan, and until verification is completed, they can live in Pakistan,
 he explained.

Despite signatures from both the Interior and Foreign Ministries, the document did not protect them. The process of obtaining it was also fraught — the Kazakh embassy reportedly declined to issue any permits or give clear responses.

The police raided their home and took three of them at once. Later another man disappeared. They couldn’t even find which police station he was in. And those already deported to Afghanistan vanished without a trace,
 said Jorabai.

As border clashes intensified — with the Taliban claiming to have killed 58 Pakistani soldiers and captured 25 posts — local authorities began door-to-door searches for refugees.

Hameed Ullah said he is now hiding with friends.

Embassy Response 

The only official reply so far came on September 19, when Kazakh Ambassador to Pakistan Yerzhan Kystafin responded to a letter from historian and parliamentary candidate Zhumamurat Shamshi.

According to the letter, the embassy has “processed” the requests of 300 Kazakhs from Karachi, Quetta, and Peshawar, and sent them “for consideration in December 2025.”

I wrote to Minister Nurtleu (Ed. since dismissed) in August asking to bring our people back. The reply arrived on October 4. It says ‘the work is completed in December.’ But it’s only October! Do they even know what month it is? I think Kystafin simply doesn’t understand Kazakh,
 Shamshi said in frustration.

Despite repeated promises from Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry and embassy, little has changed. Many have lost hope of ever being rescued from detention or deportation.

Meanwhile, those still in custody continue to wait — hoping their homeland will remember them.

Original Author: Alfia Adambek