Ziauddin Yousafzai, father of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, has raised alarm over the potential deportation of Fatima Bibi, an Afghan refugee and BISE Malakand topper. Fatima, who secured second position with 1131 marks in the board exams for pre-medical group, faces expulsion to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, where girls are banned from education.
In a series of posts on X, Yousafzai appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur to stop Fatima’s deportation. He warned that the BISE Malakand topper’s achievements would go to waste if she were sent back to Afghanistan, where the Taliban’s restrictions silence classrooms for girls.
“Her books will be locked away, her classroom replaced with silence, and her dreams buried under Taliban’s gender apartheid,” Yousafzai wrote. He called on the government to allow Fatima to pursue her education in Pakistan and to introduce special visas or scholarships for Afghan girls barred from schools in their homeland.
Fatima’s case unfolds amid an intensified national campaign to deport Afghan refugees. Since April 2025, more than 200,000 Afghans have been compelled to leave Pakistan, with over 135,000 departures in April alone and 67,000 in May. Additionally, reports indicate that 944 Afghan families, totaling around 6,700 individuals, have been deported since April 1
Advocates argue that Fatima’s success as a BISE Malakand topper shows the potential of Afghan students in Pakistan if given access to education. Her situation has now become symbolic of the broader debate over refugee rights, with activists urging Islamabad to prioritize talent and human rights over political expediency.