Almost 90,000 Afghan refugees have returned from Pakistan to their home country in recent months. Many claim to have been beaten by police, detained, and evicted from their homes in Pakistan, which has set a December 31 deadline for the return of all Afghan refugees still living there. (Photos by Vaiva Katinaityte)
Afghan Refugees Flock Home Amid Crackdown In Pakistan
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Afghan women cover their faces at their temporary home in Kabul. They are among nearly 90,000 Afghan refugees who have returned from Pakistan in recent months.
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Some returnees have made makeshift dwellings on government land on the outskirts of Kabul.
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Many returnees say that in Pakistan, they have been subject to beatings, detentions by police, and evictions from their homes. The police crackdown began after the December 2014 attack on a school in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan, which killed 150 people, mostly children. The attack was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.
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Many returnees live on meager handouts from the government and foreign aid groups.