Abstract
Pakistan aligned itself with the United States in the Global War on Terror and actively opposed the Mujahedeen. As a result, the battle extended beyond the territory of Pakistan. This thesis focuses on securitization theory and aims to examine the securitization of Afghan refugees in Pakistan. To analyze the process, we must consider how the state of Pakistan has created existential concerns that have changed the status of Afghan refugees in Pakistan from being an asset to being a strategic danger and liability. The Copenhagen school will aid in categorizing the discourses and speech actions of the bureaucratic apparatus and the political elite of Pakistan in order to persuade not only the residents of the nation but also the global population. However, the Paris school will view the practices and tools used as actions to enhance security or emergency measures to portray Afghan refugees as a security risk in Pakistan. These actions are carried out by different agents involved in security measures, especially after the school attack in Peshawar in 2014. The research concludes that the state is faced with a choice: either to accept the migrants and use them for its own benefit, or to portray them as a security risk and request their return to their home country. The study suggests that refugees are a group of people who are more susceptible to harm, and therefore, the government should prioritize the humanitarian component when interacting with them.