KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – More than 440 Afghan refugee families were returned to Afghanistan through four major border crossings in a single day, according to figures released by the Taliban’s Office of the High Commission for Refugees.
The report said a total of 442 families, comprising 2,221 people, entered Afghanistan through the Torkham, Spin Boldak, Silk Route and Islam Qala crossings.
The largest number of returns was recorded at Torkham in Nangarhar province, where 359 families, totaling 1,886 people, entered Afghanistan.
At the Spin Boldak crossing in Kandahar province, 31 families, comprising 161 people, returned to the country.
In Nimroz province, 39 families, totaling 129 people, entered Afghanistan through the Silk Route. The report also said an additional 236 individual passengers crossed through the route.
At the Islam Qala crossing in Herat province, 13 families, comprising 45 people, returned to Afghanistan.
The latest returns come as Pakistan intensifies the implementation of its Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan, introduced in late 2023. Last month, the Interior Ministry directed law enforcement agencies to step up the arrest of undocumented Afghan nationals and immediately detain those without valid visas, while provincial authorities were instructed to submit daily reports on enforcement efforts.
Pakistan has intensified its deportation operations in cities with large Afghan populations, including Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi. Local media reported that around 20,000 Afghans have been detained in Peshawar and are expected to be deported after the ongoing polio vaccination campaign ends.
Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghans for decades. Pakistani officials say about 2.4 million Afghans have either returned voluntarily or been deported since the launch of the repatriation plan. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimates that more than 1.15 million Afghans returned from Pakistan in 2025 alone.
Iran, meanwhile, remains home to one of the world’s largest Afghan migrant and refugee populations, including both documented and undocumented Afghans. Decades of conflict, economic hardship and political instability have driven large numbers of Afghans to Iran, with another significant wave arriving after the Taliban seized power in August 2021.
In recent months, Iranian authorities have also stepped up security measures and deportation operations, with hundreds of undocumented Afghan migrants reportedly detained and returned to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan each day.
The intensified deportations have raised concerns among international organizations, including the United Nations, which have repeatedly urged countries to protect the rights of Afghan refugees and migrants and ensure that deportation and migration enforcement measures comply with international human rights and refugee law.
