More than 40 Afghan refugees were expelled from the Tajik city of Vahdat and forcibly returned to Afghanistan via the Sherkhan border on April 21, marking the third known instance of forced deportations by Tajik authorities in recent months.

A refugee, speaking on condition of anonymity, said security forces summoned several taxi drivers — many of whom were registered refugees — to the Vahdat security headquarters.

“They confiscated our UNHCR cards and refugee IDs, then loaded them into two large vans,” the source said. “They were driven straight to the Sherkhan border and handed over to Afghan authorities.”

The expelled individuals reportedly included taxi drivers and small business owners, all of whom were registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and possessed official documentation.

In addition to those targeted directly at their workplaces, other Afghan refugees who had gone out for shopping or medical reasons in the city’s Gulistan market were also detained and deported during the operation.

The UNHCR and other international organizations have not yet issued a response or official statement regarding the incident.

All those deported had reportedly fled to Tajikistan following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Many now face uncertain and potentially dangerous conditions upon their return.

The Tajik deportation coincides with a broader regional trend of refugee expulsions. In Pakistan, authorities deported 2,811 Afghan refugees through the Torkham border crossing in the latest round of removals, with several deportees reporting they were taken from workplaces and forced to leave behind families and livelihoods.