At the home of a Pakistani rickshaw driver, a knock broke the silence of a cold November night, followed by a desperate plea: "My wife is giving birth. Could you take her to the hospital? If we leave our home, the police will detain us. Please help us."
On the other side of the door stood an Afghan refugee couple, the wife in labor. Due to Pakistan’s widespread deportations of Afghans, the couple feared leaving their home, even for urgent medical care. The family faced the unimaginable: giving birth without support, in isolation, and under extreme stress.
Even though the family had no money, the driver agreed to rush the woman to the hospital.
"As a human being, I felt their pain,” he told a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) team in Balochistan province. "I witnessed everything. She was screaming all the way to the hospital. She delivered her baby in my rickshaw — it was full of blood. I cannot describe it in words. It broke me, listening to her screaming and driving at the same time. I was in mental trauma."
Xu Weibing, MSF head of mission in PakistanAfghan families are being forced to choose between living in fear of deportation and danger upon return. Pakistan should ensure no one is forced back into harm. Safety, dignity, and humanity are not optional.
At the MSF facility, the staff cared for the woman and her baby, who thankfully were healthy and safe after the frightening delivery. Their experience, however, is not uncommon among Afghans in Pakistan. With refugees facing barriers to accessing necessary medical attention, the need for immediate humanitarian aid has never been more urgent.
