The family of a young Afghan refugee who died in Pakistan while waiting for resettlement in Australia say they believe the tragedy was driven by years of limbo, fear and uncertainty.
Warning: This story contains discussion of suicide.
Twenty-year-old Nilofer* died by suicide on May 4 in her family's apartment in Islamabad.
She had lived in the country for four years while awaiting an Australian humanitarian visa after fleeing Kabul with 13 relatives following the Taliban's takeover in 2021.
Her father, a senior official in the former Afghan government, was targeted by the Taliban, forcing the family into exile.
Her cousin Omar* told the ABC the endless waiting and fear of deportation left her unable to cope.
"We were well off in Afghanistan," Omar said.
"[Now] who are we? No visa, no job. We are shadows."
The family's temporary Pakistani visas expired months ago, leaving them undocumented and vulnerable. Police patrols around their neighbourhood were a source of dread.
Nilofer spent her last days anxiously refreshing a WhatsApp group where Afghans warned each other when officers were circling.
"She was our most beloved …," Omar said.
"She was also suffering … but didn't want to add to ours."
Four family members have since been granted Australian humanitarian visas but were left at risk of deportation for weeks while waiting on Pakistan to issue exit permits.
The nine others remain stuck in character checks and could still be forced out.
Australia's Department of Home Affairs said it could not comment on individual cases but acknowledged that waiting for visa outcomes could be "distressing and stressful".
A spokesperson said the government was making every effort to process applications as quickly as possible.
It has also raised concerns with Pakistan, urging authorities not to deport Afghans on a pathway to Australia and to issue exit permits without delay.
But, in the meantime, there are fears some refugees may still be left in limbo.
Pakistan's hardening stance on Afghan refugees
Pakistan has hosted Afghan refugees for decades, but the government now says their presence is a strain on security and public services.
In 2023, Islamabad introduced the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan, requiring Afghans without valid visas to leave the country voluntarily or face deportation.
Since then, authorities have stopped extending temporary refugee cards, and police have intensified raids to catch people whose visas have lapsed.
Pakistan's Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry has said the decision to expel Afghan refugees was driven by security concerns.
He claimed Afghan nationals were involved in drug trafficking and terrorism in Pakistan.
This year, more than 2.1 million Afghans have returned or been forced to return to Afghanistan, including 352,000 from Pakistan.
Mangal Khan, who has lived in Islamabad for nearly 40 years on an Afghan Citizen Card, says the climate has shifted dramatically.
"The police come here, catch us and take us to camp … they deport us from the land border," he said.
"They are very strict now."
Yet for many like Khan, Pakistan is the only home they know.
"This is my home. I can give everything, even my life, to Pakistan."
Slow pace of relocation to Western countries
As of July 2024, at least 44,000 Afghans approved for relocation to Western countries after the Taliban takeover were still in Pakistan, awaiting transfer.
This group includes 25,000 bound for the United States, 9,000 for Australia, 6,000 for Canada, 3,000 for Germany, and more than 1,000 for the United Kingdom.
More recent figures have not been provided by Pakistan's Foreign Office or other ministries, but the pace of relocation has been slow since the initiative began in late 2021.
In recent months, two other Afghan asylum seekers — one awaiting resettlement to the US and another to Canada — also reportedly died by suicide in Islamabad and Peshawar after their applications were denied.
Refugee groups warn that prolonged uncertainty, poverty and harassment are fuelling a mental health crisis among Afghans stuck in Pakistan.
The ABC has spoken to former judges, journalists, civil society activists and ex-government workers who remain in limbo, their lives on hold while they wait for resettlement to a third country.
Refugee activists like Maria Noori warn that prolonged uncertainty, poverty and harassment are fuelling a mental health crisis among Afghans stuck in Pakistan.
"We are always under pressure," she says.
"We cannot eat properly, we cannot take proper decision, we cannot focus properly."
Pakistan's deportations mirror a wider regional crackdown on Afghan refugees, which has placed a strain on Afghanistan's fragile economy and remaining infrastructure.
Since January, more than 1.5 million Afghans have been pushed out of Iran and back to their home country.
For women in particular, the return to Afghanistan is perilous.
For example, Basija Saeedi was a judge and activist in Afghanistan who defended women and children’s rights and prosecuted Taliban fighters before the group seized power in 2021.
She says afterwards, she was jailed and tortured. She fled to Iran but was deported a month ago and is now in hiding in Kabul with her husband and three children.
Basija says her past work – and her husband’s role as a former soldier – have left them in grave danger. She fears she will be recognised by those she once imprisoned.
"If the Taliban arrest me, I will set myself on fire because I can't bear to be imprisoned and sexually abused," she says.
She has been waiting three years for her Australian visa to be processed.
Refugees are anxious and angry over delays
Australia has pledged 26,500 humanitarian visas for Afghans through 2026.
But the demand far outweighs that amount.
Between August 2021 and June 2024, more than 251,000 Afghans applied for offshore humanitarian visas.
Just under 20,000 were granted, almost 70,000 were rejected, and more than 160,000 remain stuck in the queue.
Australian government officials say about half of all offshore humanitarian visas granted over the past four years have gone to Afghan nationals.
But some Afghans say the delays and rejections are crushing their last hope of escape.
In Islamabad, 22-year-old Sakina Amini hides in safe houses with her mother after fleeing Afghanistan with smugglers.
Once a student aspiring to be a doctor, she was banned from university when the Taliban shut women out of higher education.
She also faced harassment and threats of forced marriage by Taliban members while working at a health clinic.
Her Australian visa application, which cited her Hazara ethnicity and risk of persecution, was rejected after three and a half years.
"I felt as if I were no longer alive," she said.
Sakina tried to take her life twice.
She says she had never thought Australia would reject her application.
"When you cannot work for yourself, cannot even breathe properly or think clearly, it becomes difficult for a person to continue living," she said.
"I am very angry, angry at everyone, angry at the governments of the whole world, and especially at the Australian government."
For Afghans like Sakina and Basija, the hope of refuge is also slipping further away — as fear, frustration and despair close in.
*Names changed for safety
