*ISLAMABAD:* Pakistani independent journalist and The Friday Times contributor Haroon Janjua has won the Elizabeth Neuffer Memorial Prize at the 2026 United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) Awards for his reporting on Afghan refugees facing deportation from Pakistan.
His award-winning report for Deutsche Welle (DW), [Pakistan: Lives of exiled Afghans crushed in Taliban row](https://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-lives-of-exiled-afghans-crushed-in-taliban-row/a-74659260), examines the impact of Pakistan's deportation campaign on Afghan families amid growing tensions between Islamabad and the Taliban government.
Reporting from Chaman, near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Janjua documented the experiences of families who had lived in Pakistan for decades, including people born in the country who had never known another home.
The report follows families preparing to leave with few possessions, children whose education has been disrupted, and women confronting an uncertain future under Taliban rule. Among those featured is a medical student forced to abandon her studies.
Janjua previously contributed to The Friday Times and has reported forJanjuaal international publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Times, BBC World Service, Nikkei Asia and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
Janjua also received a UNCA Award in 2015. His previous recognitions include journalism awards from IE Business School and the Population Institute, a South Asian Journalists Association fellowship in 2017, and a Pulitzer Center grant in 2021.
The 2026 UNCA Awards ceremony is scheduled for December in New York, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres expected to attend.
The award comes as Pakistan's deportation policies and the future of Afghan refugees continue to raise serious humanitarian and human rights concerns.