April 22, 2026
By Ahmed Saeed
ISLAMABAD
Pakistan authorities have detained an Afghan woman journalist, K* (name withheld to protect identity), along with her four-year-old son and husband, after offloading her for the third time as she attempted to board a flight to Tanzania.
K* was associated with a women-led news outlet covering human rights, women’s issues, and the LGBTQ community in Afghanistan. She has been living in Pakistan since 2024 after entering the country on a medical visa.
After the expiry of her medical visa to Pakistan, she was issued an exit permit, which is a legal document granted to individuals to facilitate their departure from the country.
Zahra Nader, editor of the outlet, said on social media that K* and her family had been offloaded three times since February 26, 2026, despite having all legal documents, including a valid visa for Tanzania. She added that K*’s exit permit was due to expire within 48 hours.
“We have booked three flights and spent thousands of dollars on visas, exit permits, and fines. Each time, despite having valid documentation, they have been stopped at the airport by Pakistani authorities,” she said.
Another source familiar with the case told Voicepk that K* was offloaded twice from Jinnah International Airport Karachi and once from Islamabad International Airport by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The source said the FIA had objected that since she had entered Pakistan on a medical visa, she must first return to Afghanistan before traveling onward to a third country.
However K*’s lawyer, Umar Ijaz Gillani, has filed a habeas corpus petition in a Sessions; court in Islamabad seeking her recovery. He argued that an exit permit was a valid document for stay in Pakistan and those in possession of it cannot be detained on charges of overstaying or even be declared an illegal foreigner.
Gillani also said that offloading his client was unlawful, as the FIA does not have the legal authority to prevent a person from traveling abroad.
“If the government believes her medical visa to Pakistan is invalid, it can be revoked, but she cannot be prevented from leaving Pakistan,” he said, adding that his client was not provided written reasons for being offloaded.
Earlier ruling on the offloading issue
In February 2026, Justice Raheel Kamran Sheikh of the Lahore High Court (LHC) ruled that immigration authorities must record and communicate written reasons in every case where a passenger is offloaded from an international flight. The court also noted that the right to travel abroad was a valuable civil right protected under Article 15 of the Constitution.
Rights activists and journalists have condemned the arrest and repeated offloading of the Afghan journalist and her family.
Annie Zaman, who works on a journalist safety program, said the detention raises serious concerns. “The detention of a woman journalist and her family after repeated attempts to leave Pakistan legally is deeply alarming and raises serious concerns about due process and the protection of vulnerable individuals,” she said.
“Forcing journalists and their families into situations where they have no safe or lawful pathway forward is not only unjust—it puts them at real risk of harm, trauma, and forced return to a country where their safety cannot be guaranteed,” she added.
She urged Pakistani authorities to act with transparency and ensure the immediate safety and dignity of the family.
Activists have urged Pakistan to consider K*’s case on humanitarian grounds, warning that forcing her to return to Afghanistan could put her life at risk.
Munizae Jahangir, co-chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said the commission has previously written to the Foreign Affairs and Interior ministries urging a humanitarian approach toward the deportation of Afghan refugees, especially women, warning that forced return to Afghanistan could place their lives at serious risk.
“In this case, HRCP urges the government of Pakistan to allow the journalist and her family to leave Pakistan and not force her back to a country where she may face torture and threats to her life”, she added.
Khushal Khan, rights activist and a member of the National Democratic Movement (NDM) also condemned the move, questioning under what law the FIA could offload a person seeking to travel abroad on a valid visa.
“Stopping a person from flying out of Pakistan just because she entered on a medical visa does not make any sense and such cases require greater sympathy and humanitarian consideration from the host country.”
Pakistan has been deporting Afghan nationals since September 2023, with a recent uptick in forced deportations, including of those holding valid documents such as Proof of Registration (PoR) and Afghan Citizen Cards. According to Amnesty International, more than 1.9 million Afghans have been deported since 2023. Human Rights Watch reported that in 2026 alone, over 146,000 Afghans have been deported. The group said police have arrested Afghans during their routine work, confiscated their belongings and demanded bribes. Those who had not been able to par bribe have been detained and deported back to Afghanistan
Many are at serious risk if returned to Afghanistan, including journalists, human rights defenders, and activists, said the report.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has also reported that Pakistani authorities have forcibly returned at least nine Afghan journalists since the beginning of 2026, including some with valid visas.