The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reported that over 96,000 people crossed from Afghanistan to Iran and Pakistan in just one week.
According to the IOM, between August 25 and 31 of this year, 96,522 individuals left Afghanistan for Iran and Pakistan. In a report released on Sunday, September 8, the organization stated that 67,944 of these people went to Iran, while 28,578 went to Pakistan.
The IOM noted that this year’s Arbaeen pilgrimage in Iraq was one of the factors driving the increased movement to Iran during this period. It also highlighted that visiting family members and pursuing education were major reasons for travel to Pakistan.
The report further indicated that during the same period, 63,540 people returned to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan: 37,477 from Iran and 26,063 from Pakistan.
Previously, the IOM reported that between August 18 and 24, 72,624 people left Afghanistan for Iran and Pakistan, while 64,950 returned to Afghanistan from these two countries.
The IOM stated that these statistics were collected through monitoring at four main border crossings and seven other border points between Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan.
For decades, Iran and Pakistan have been key destinations for Afghan refugees fleeing conflict, persecution, and unemployment.
According to the United Nations, Pakistan currently hosts 3.7 million Afghan refugees, of whom over 1 million are registered, and 880,000 live under various legal statuses. In Iran, the U.N. estimates that around 4.5 million Afghans reside in the country, though Iranian authorities claim the number exceeds 5 million.
At least 1 million of these refugees arrived after the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, a political crisis that worsened Afghanistan’s already dire situation. The Iranian interior ministry noted that prior to 2021, Afghanistan’s refugee population in Iran was only 2.5 million.
In recent years, both Pakistan and Iran have intensified crackdowns on Afghan refugees, deporting tens of thousands back to Afghanistan despite the worsening humanitarian, human rights, and economic crises under Taliban rule.
A recent UNHCR report ranks Afghanistan among the top three countries with the highest number of refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced people in 2022. Out of 108.4 million people displaced worldwide, 5.7 million are from Afghanistan, highlighting the scale of the crisis and the ongoing exodus from the conflict-ridden nation.
