Amidst uncertainty, a helpline in Pakistan becomes a lifeline for Afghans

She sits among a multilingual team of 40 colleagues, speakers of Pashto, Dari, Persian, Arabic, Urdu and English, in a room filled with monitors and headsets.

Each colleague is connected to a different life, a new fear, a unique story.

Many callers are women, mothers with young children, widows, single women who have built their entire lives in Pakistan but now fear everything could change overnight.

Sumaya’s job is to help them through their most vulnerable moments.

Return to Afghanistan

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, hundreds of thousands of Afghans have fled across the border into Pakistan, joining an already large refugee population that has been there for decades.

But uncertainty has grown following the decision of the Government of Pakistan to proceed with the implementation of their ‘Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan’ (IFRP), over one million Afghans have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan.

For decades, many of them have considered Pakistan their home, and struggle at the prospect of returning to a country in a protrcated humanitarian crisis.

Houses raided

When Sumaiya who works for the UNHCR receives callers, she refers them to the relevant services offered by the UNHCR which also supports the helpline.

She provides guidance and shares practical information.

But what weighs on her most is when she cannot give the callers certainty.

She recalls one conversation with a single mother who broke down in tears, explaining that her house had been raided and demolished, and that none of her neighbours would open their doors to her and her children.

Some days, she ends her shift feeling drained – “helpless,” she admited – yet every morning, she returns to support those less fortunate than herself.

A UNHCR helpline team in Pakistan, where multilingual staff provide support to refugees and asylum seekers, including women with children and widows facing uncertainty.

Bridge between fear and clarity

Refugees and asylum-seekers, especially those residing around Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, can no longer easily access UNHCR offices or partner locations, as movement has been further restricted.

Many callers now seek help in clarifying rumours, misinformation about deportation or false promises of resettlement in exchange for money. The helpline has become a lifeline for many.

“If the helpline didn’t exist, so many people would be cheated, misled, or terrified for no reason.” said Sumaiya.

For people who cannot leave their homes, the conversations with Sumaya and her colleagues are often the only bridge between them and accurate information – sometimes the only bridge between fear and clarity.

Hope prevails

Amid the many painful calls she handles, one memory continues to give her strength.

An elderly Afghan woman, completely alone, once called simply to thank her. She had received life-saving cash assistance from UNHCR and wanted Sumaya to know what it meant to her.

“The woman had no family, no support system, and no safety net. She lives completely alone,” Sumaiya recalled. “She must have been around 55, but she sounded much older. For a brief moment, I felt my work truly mattered. Our work at UNHCR reaches the people who need it most.”