'I've never been to Afghanistan': Six million deportees forced to start over under the Taliban 01.09.2026

The Torkham crossing, known as "Zero Point," marks the transition from one hard life to another for millions of Afghans deported from Pakistan and Iran. Nazia, born in Pakistan, expresses mixed feelings: relief to be in her "own country" but distress over never having been to Afghanistan and facing a lack of basic necessities like bread. She is among nearly six million returnees since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, according to the UNHCR, which describes this as the largest cross-border return movement in recent history. Many returnees, like Sarwar who left 45 years ago during the Soviet invasion, have not set foot in Afghanistan for decades and face a desolate landscape of tattered tarpaulin shelters.

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