Hamed Paykar thought his three-year ordeal was finally going to be over.
The Afghan journalist and his family have been living in Pakistan since shortly after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
Reporting projects he had done under the previous Afghan government, funded by the US embassy in Kabul, had created a double-edged sword — he was now a target for the Taliban, but also eligible for resettlement in the United States.
Only weeks ago, it appeared he and his family had cleared the final hurdle required to emigrate.
They passed the security checks and medical examinations needed for their P-2 visas — a category of refugee visa specifically for Afghans who worked with American forces or programs.
They were told by the United Nations' International Organization for Migration that a flight had been scheduled for February 5.
"We made all necessary preparations," Paykar told the ABC.
"We ended our rental contract, bought essential items for us and our children, and distributed our remaining belongings to our friends, because we were set to leave."
Then came Donald Trump's inauguration, and the flurry of executive orders he swiftly signed — including one to suspend the US refugee program.
Paykar and his family never made it onto a flight.
"I was overwhelmed with another wave of sorrow," he told the ABC.
"I was in such a terrible state that I cannot even describe my emotions at the moment."
Pakistan orders Afghan refugees to leave 'voluntarily'
Nearly 1,660 Afghan refugees who had been cleared by the US government to resettle had their flights cancelled under Mr Trump's executive order.
It also left thousands more, who had been approved for resettlement but not yet assigned flights, in limbo.
The executive order initially suspended the country's refugee program for 90 days, leaving it open to the possibility Afghan refugees who had been promised resettlement there would eventually be welcomed.
Then, last week, sources told Reuters that a new travel ban similar to the "Muslim ban" Mr Trump established in his first term could bar people from Afghanistan and Pakistan from entering the US as soon as this week.
The decision was reportedly "based on a government review of countries' security and vetting risks," Reuters reported.
It's not just their path to the US that has been blocked.
Pakistan's interior ministry has also ordered all "illegal foreigners" and Afghan Citizen Card holders to leave the country "voluntarily" by March 31.
"Thereafter, deportation will commence with effect from 1 April 2025," it said in a statement.
[durand line image]At least 600,000 undocumented Afghans fled into Pakistan after the Taliban takeover.
Even if Mr Trump were to reinstate the country's refugee program at the end of the 90-day suspension, it would be too late.
"It is highlighted that sufficient time has already been granted for their dignified return," the order stated, adding that nobody would be "maltreated" during the repatriation process.
"Pakistan has been a gracious host and continues to fulfil its commitments and obligations as a responsible state."
Returning to Afghanistan 'a death sentence'
Paykar says there is now "little hope left" that he and his family will be resettled in the US.
"We have not entirely given up … but the most painful part is that we have wasted three years waiting," he said.
Before the Taliban takeover, Paykar spent 20 years working as a journalist, including on US-funded documentary projects which, among other things, profiled Afghan security forces.
What awaits him and his family if they were now sent back to Afghanistan is unclear.
"This might seem like just another bureaucratic decision for President Trump and his administration," he said.
"However, for us — former partners of the US — such an order could equate to a death sentence.
"I honestly do not believe that if we return to Afghanistan, we or our families will have a future or life there. It could very well be the last moments of our lives."
Lawyer and human rights activist Shakoofa Khalili said, for her family, the horror has already started.
She, her husband and her then-seven-year-old daughter fled to Pakistan in March 2022, after the Taliban started targeting activists.
"Fear seeped into every home, every conversation and every step I took," she told the ABC.
"Women's rights activists, human rights defenders began disappearing, arrested, never to be seen again."
Because of her work with US-funded projects, Ms Khalili was also eligible for a P-2 visa.
She had passed all the clearances and was just waiting for a flight date when the program was suspended.
Then, a month ago, her husband went out to buy bread, and was arrested by Pakistani police in front of their young daughter.
"Since that day, my little girl has not spoken," Ms Khalili said.
"She does not play. She is locked in silence, trapped in the horror of what she witnessed."
Ms Khalili said the US had abandoned Afghans who once worked alongside it.
"Now, I — along with thousands of Afghan allies — am stranded," she told the ABC.
"The US, a country we trusted, has halted our pathway to safety.
"We wait in limbo, vulnerable, with no way forward and no way back.
"Every day, I hear of more deportations. Those sent back to Afghanistan face imprisonment, torture or worse.
"Returning means death."
Deported Afghans live 'in constant fear'
More than 800 Afghan nationals had been deported from Pakistan as of early February, according to the United Nations' refugee agency.
"Since 1 January 2025, an uptick in arrests of Afghan nationals in the [Islamabad Capital Territory] and Rawalpindi has caused significant distress, with reports of Afghan nationals of various documentation status being rounded up," the UNHCR said in a statement last month.
Naveed* is one of those who has already been sent back.
What Paykar and Ms Khalili fear, he is already living through.
He is coy about stating publicly what he did before the Taliban takeover, for fear of reprisal.
But it's enough to put his life in danger.
"Under the previous regime, I had a job in a certain place," he told the ABC.
"I cannot disclose much information about this job, [but] because I was facing some danger, I had no choice but to leave for Pakistan."
He applied for asylum in Canada, but never got a response, and for a visa to stay in Pakistan, which was rejected.
For three years, he made ends meet working hospitality and delivery jobs.
Then, in late January, while he was delivering bread, Pakistani police raided the building he was in.
They arrested and deported him.
Now back in Afghanistan, he said he lived "in constant fear" and was desperate to leave again, by any means possible.
"I have considered returning to Pakistan through irregular border routes, but I have been informed that the routes have become too dangerous, so I must wait," he told the ABC.
In the meantime, he has reapplied for another Pakistani visa.
He said even articulating his despair was dangerous.
"I still have a lot to say, and many thoughts weigh on my heart, but due to the current situation and circumstances I am unable to express them."
* Name has been changed for safety reasons.
