As the number of returnees continues to rise, the challenge for Afghanistan’s de facto government and aid agencies grows more urgent. Without immediate investment in infrastructure, job creation, and social support systems, the country faces the risk of widespread humanitarian breakdown.
As the wave of deportations from Pakistan and Iran surges, tens of thousands of Afghan migrants are returning home – many not by choice, but by force. What awaits them is not a warm welcome or reintegration, but a grim landscape of unemployment, homelessness, and hunger. Their lives, once built over decades in neighbouring countries, have been reduced to uncertainty within their own homeland.
Among them is Abdul Sattar, who arrived in Afghanistan just yesterday after years of living in Pakistan. He recalls the sudden demand from Pakistani authorities for Afghans to vacate the country. “It’s out of necessity; there is neither work nor livelihood here,” Sattar told reporters in Kabul. “There must be opportunities for jobs, livelihood, and shelter, because this is a problem for everyone. No one can find a proper job or life for themselves and their children. This is our request from the Islamic Emirate.”
Like Sattar, Mohammad Ismail of Balkh province spent the last five years in Iran, only to be forcibly deported in recent weeks. “Our fate must be decided,” said Ismail, surrounded by his children. “These are seven or eight of our children; a house and a life must be provided for us together. I am an old man, where should I go and what work can I do?”
Such testimonies underscore a growing crisis: the mass return of Afghan migrants without a safety net. Most have come back unprepared, some stripped of their belongings and resources, others still in shock from the sudden rupture of lives built across borders.
Pakistan’s Shifting Stance
The situation is especially dire for Afghan migrants in Pakistan, where visa renewals have been suspended, and Proof of Registration (PoR) cards invalidated without clear guidance. Migrants are reporting increased police harassment and arbitrary detentions.
Atiqullah Mansour, an Afghan living in Pakistan, described the worsening conditions: “Among the current issues faced by Afghan migrants are the non-renewal and high cost of Pakistani visas, contradictory reports about the extension or cancellation of POR cards, and UNHCR’s lack of attention to migrants with pending cases.”
Malik Khan Shinwari, another migrant, added: “In Punjab, Balochistan, and other areas of Pakistan, Afghan migrants are harassed and detained by the police.”
Mohammad Reza Sazesh, based in Islamabad, shared his fears: “Very difficult conditions have been created for all refugees. On one hand, arrests are happening day and night, and on the other hand, visa extensions have stopped. No visa or passport renewals are being processed.”
These changes have led to a wave of fear and panic. “After a senior Pakistani official announced that PoR cards would no longer be extended, fear and panic spread among Afghan refugees,” Mansour said. “They can’t resolve their decades-long affairs in Pakistan within a short time.”
The Iranian Exodus
The situation in Iran is equally bleak. Deportations have been accelerating, and Afghan families are being pushed across the border with little more than the clothes on their backs. UN data shows nearly 339,000 Afghans have returned from Iran in just the first twelve days of July – more than 60 per cent of them are families and 43 per cent are children under 18.
Zia, a father of several young children, spent seven years in Iran chasing a better life. Now, he lives in a makeshift returnee camp in Kabul, uncertain of what comes next. “We were under pressure, they fined us and deported us, and now we are left with only 200 million tomans, of which only 100 million have been given to us to cover our expenses,” he said. “The UN provides aid that’s neither enough to live nor to die. Our request is for help. We have no home now.”
His story echoes across countless Afghan families now stranded in a country they once fled – often from the very same poverty, instability, and insecurity they now face again.
Mounting Humanitarian Concerns
International organizations are sounding the alarm. The UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, recently announced that $10 million has been allocated from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support Afghan returnees from Iran.
“There’s been a surge of returns from Iran in recent weeks,” Dujarric said. “The new funding will help expand support for the most vulnerable, including women and children, as they arrive in and in their areas of return.”
However, aid workers and local NGOs argue that this is merely a drop in the bucket. Many families are arriving to find no infrastructure – no schools, clinics, or job prospects – and no government programs to absorb them. Returnee camps are overcrowded, under-resourced, and barely capable of meeting basic needs.
Refugee rights activist Mohammad Khan Talebi Mohammadzai warned that the deportation policies, especially Pakistan’s current campaign, could trigger another large-scale humanitarian disaster. “Pakistan’s actions could lead to another humanitarian crisis, especially since other countries are beginning to follow suit,” he said.
According to the UN and affiliated agencies, over 1.1 million Afghans have been deported from Iran alone this year. This number continues to rise, with little sign of slowing down.
Challenge Grows More Urgent
Amid this crisis, calls for accountability and coordinated response are growing. International pressure is mounting on host countries like Iran and Pakistan to halt forced deportations and provide legal pathways for Afghan migrants – especially those who have lived in these countries for decades and whose children know no other home.
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, visited Tehran earlier this month to address the situation. He urged Iranian officials to end the policy of forced deportations and engage in constructive dialogue with the international community.
Yet, many Afghans remain sceptical about what these visits and promises will actually achieve.
Mohammad Jamal Muslim, a migrant rights activist, said: “Multilateral meetings might send a message to governments, but unfortunately, on critical issues, the UN takes a selective approach toward Third World countries and has so far done nothing meaningful for the citizens who are in need.”
As the number of returnees continues to rise, the challenge for Afghanistan’s de facto government and aid agencies grows more urgent. Without immediate investment in infrastructure, job creation, and social support systems, the country faces the risk of widespread humanitarian breakdown.
For now, families like Abdul Sattar’s, Mohammad Ismail’s, and Zia’s wait in limbo – displaced once again, not by war this time, but by shifting borders and broken promises.
The question that remains is not only how to help them survive – but whether the world will even choose to try.
