After the fall of Kabul, Afghan refugee journalists who came to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — especially women journalists — are now forced to live in severe hardship, legal uncertainty, and constant fear.

Afghan male and female journalists say that their problems have increased significantly in recent months, but conditions for women journalists have become far more serious.

Many women journalists are receiving notices from landlords asking them to vacate their rented homes or arrange their visas themselves — something that is nearly impossible for them under the current circumstances.

A major issue for these journalists is the lack of access to Pakistani SIM cards. Most of them only have Afghan SIMs, which do not function effectively in Pakistan.

In this situation, when women journalists leave their homes for daily necessities — especially grocery shopping — they lose contact with their families.

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One Afghan woman journalist said:

“This issue may seem small, but for us it is a symbol of fear. When we step out, our families cannot contact us, and there is constant anxiety about something bad happening.”

A widowed woman journalist living in Peshawar, who is the sole provider for her four children, says her children’s biggest fear is that their mother might be taken into police custody.

“When I return late, my children panic and think I may have been taken to the police station. This fear has become part of our daily lives.”

Another woman journalist described a heartbreaking incident from last night. She had taken her sick daughter to a hospital in Peshawar, where protests were underway over the alleged death of a child due to medical negligence, and police were present at the scene.

"The police were asking everyone why they had come and where they were from. I was trembling, afraid they might question me too," she said.

“I feared that if I were detained and deported along with my sick daughter, my other children would be left alone here.”

Afghan journalists say their fears are not unfounded. According to them, returning to Afghanistan is not possible because they previously worked with media organizations that the Afghan Taliban consider supportive of the former government. They maintain that they never supported or opposed any political or military side, but practiced fact-based journalism.

"We wrote the truth and showed the truth, but today that very truth has become a threat to our lives," one journalist said.

The affected journalists have appealed to the Government of Pakistan and relevant institutions to grant temporary visa extensions and allow them access to Pakistani SIM cards, so their daily difficulties and psychological stress can be reduced.

Human rights activists have warned that if immediate steps are not taken, Afghan women journalists residing in Pakistan may face severe mental stress, homelessness, and the risk of forced return to Afghanistan — where they face real threats to their lives.