Some Afghans Have Never Been to Afghanistan. Now, a Forced Return

A country many of them have never seen has suddenly become "home" for millions of Afghans pushed back over the border. Writing for the BBC, Lyse Doucet travels to the Torkham crossing—aka the "Zero Point"—between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where a vast tide of returnees is flowing into a Taliban-ruled state already in deep crisis. The UN refugee agency says 6 million people have come back in under three years, as Pakistan and Iran intensify deportations of Afghans they describe as security and economic burdens, sweeping up both undocumented migrants and some who hold official registration.

Doucet details families arriving with little more than what they can carry, many born and raised in Pakistan or Iran, now facing a country where nearly half the population needs aid, and where girls are barred from most education. "It feels good to be in my own country," one 35-year-old mother of two says. "But I've never been to Afghanistan before, and many people here don't even have enough bread to eat."

Returnees describe harassment and raids in Pakistan and Iran; some former Afghan security personnel say they're now hiding from the Taliban despite an announced amnesty. Taliban officials insist the influx will ultimately help Afghanistan, but aid agencies warn that no state could handle this strain alone. Read the full BBC report for on-the-ground accounts.