OPEN LETTER TO THE UNITED NATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

OPEN LETTER TO THE UNITED NATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Islamabad, Pakistan

Date: 11-17-2025

To:

United Nations (UN)

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

All National and International Media Outlets

Subject: Urgent Open Letter Regarding the Critical and Life-Threatening Situation of Afghan

Refugees in Pakistan

Dear Respected Representatives,

We, a group of Afghan refugees and USRAP case holders residing in the Islamic Republic of

Pakistan, submit this open letter at a time when we are facing one of the most severe

humanitarians, legal, and security crises in recent years.

Over the past months, the scale of arrests, harassment, and forced deportations of Afghan

refugees in Pakistan has escalated to unprecedented levels. Police forces continue

conducting door‑to‑door searches, detaining refugees, and transferring them to deportation

centers. For all of us, forced return to Afghanistan poses a direct threat of imprisonment,

torture, persecution, and even death due to our documented cooperation with American

organizations, civil, media, social, humanitarian, and professional engagements.

Life in Pakistan has also become unbearable. The official support letter we received from

the U.S. Department of State is no longer accepted by the Pakistani police. Landlords, acting

under instructions from Pakistani authorities, are refusing to renew rental agreements and

are forcefully evicting families. Women, men, and children are left without shelter in the

harsh winter cold. For more than four years, we have endured poverty, fear, uncertainty,and displacement because our lives was in danger and the U.S. institutions and

organizations we worked for formally instructed us to urgently relocate to a third country

so that the U.S. resettlement process could begin. Based on that guidance, we were forced to

sell our homes, properties, and life savings at minimal value before migrating to Pakistan.

We acted exactly according to the directions provided to us, yet today we find ourselves

abandoned in a dire and life‑threatening situation—with expired visas, no protection, and

constant risk of arrest and deportation.

We completed all required administrative procedures, including interviews, biometric

processing, document verification, and medical examinations. Some of us had even received

scheduled flight dates. However, despite our full compliance, the relocation process was

suddenly halted following executive orders issued by U.S. President Donald Trump, leaving

thousands of USRAP case holders stranded in dangerous and inhumane conditions.

Our demands:

1. Immediate relocation of all USRAP case holders to the United States, as this is a right

guaranteed to us based on official instructions we received from U.S. government offices

and affiliated organizations that directed us to leave Afghanistan and seek safety in a third

country. We complied fully with all requirements, and therefore the United States must now

fulfill its responsibility to complete our transfer without further delay.

2. Immediate action to stop the arrest, harassment, and forced deportation of Afghan

refugees in Pakistan until the final resolution of our resettlement cases.

3. Urgent completion of all pending steps in the U.S. resettlement process, which

should have been finalized years ago, including the restoration of previously approved flight

schedules.

4. Clear and enforceable directives to the Government of Pakistan to halt abuse,

intimidation, evictions, and deportations of Afghan refugees until the resettlement process

is completed.

5. Immediate intervention and active monitoring by international human rights

bodies in deportation centers, detention facilities, and all high-risk refugee communities, to

prevent violations and ensure protection.

With respect,

On behalf of all USRAP case holders

Afghan Refugees Residing in Pakistan