'I've never been to Afghanistan': Six million deportees forced to start over under the Taliban

The elderly grimace, hobbling on crutches, and wide-eyed children stare, cradling chickens carried from homes they were forced to leave behind.

"It feels good to be in my own country," 35-year-old Nazia says, just minutes after she crosses from Pakistan, where she was born, into Afghanistan.

The Torkham crossing, known as "Zero Point", is where one hard life ends and another begins.

"But I've never been to Afghanistan before and many people here don't even have enough bread to eat," Nazia sighs as she heads, two of her children in tow, toward registration counters festooned with white and black Taliban flags.

Nearly her entire family, eight sisters and their offspring, were deported to Afghanistan this year from Pakistan or Iran.

They are part of the biggest cross-border movement of people anywhere in the world.

Millions of Afghans have fled across the borders to Pakistan and Iran for decades – seeking refuge or employment - and the number escaping Afghanistan has continued to rise since the Taliban takeover in August 2021.

Most are now being forced to return as these two neighbours crack down on undocumented migrants. Nazia and her family were undocumented but the UN and human rights groups say the security sweep is reaching far beyond that group to include registered Afghans too. Even Pakistan now publicly says that Afghans with Proof of Registration cards are not exempt.