KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – More than 2.43 million undocumented Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan since September 2023, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
In a statement on Tuesday, IOM said that 54% of these returnees were forcibly deported. The organization has assisted over 1 million individuals as they arrived back in Afghanistan.
The agency observed a significant increase in the number of returnees in recent weeks, particularly from Pakistan, with 60,000 people recorded in the past two weeks alone.
To assist these individuals, the IOM operates eight reception and transit centers across Afghanistan in the provinces of Herat, Nimruz, Kandahar, and Nangarhar. However, with the increasing numbers of returnees and their heightened vulnerability, the IOM says additional resources are urgently needed to expand operations.
“With a new wave of large-scale returns now underway from Pakistan, needs on the ground are rising rapidly—both at the border and in areas of return that are struggling to absorb large numbers of returnees,” said Mihyung Park, IOM’s Chief of Mission in Afghanistan. “We are ready to strengthen our response, but this can only happen with urgent funding to address the current shortfall.”
The IOM has called for a halt to forced returns of Afghan refugees by all host countries until conditions are in place to ensure their safe, dignified, and voluntary repatriation.
Iran and Pakistan have intensified deportations in recent months, forcing thousands of Afghan refugees to return to a country already facing severe human rights challenges and a humanitarian crisis. Many of these refugees had fled Afghanistan to escape economic hardship and the threat of Taliban retaliation.
Despite repeated appeals from the UN and human rights groups, both countries have continued their crackdowns. Pakistan, which recently began targeting holders of Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) and Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, justifies its actions as a counter-terrorism measure in response to a rise in security incidents. Iran has also announced plans to further escalate deportations in the coming months.
