2.43m Afghans return home in over 18 months

KABUL (Pajhwok): The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says it has assisted more than one million Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan and Iran since the rise in Afghan return movements began in September 2023.

In a statement, the agency said, between September 2023 and 2025, more than 2.43 million undocumented Afghan migrants had returned from Pakistan and Iran.

It added 54 were forcibly repatriated and the IOM provided critical post-arrival humanitarian support to 1,003,563 of the returnees.

Meanwhile, returns from Iran remained consistently high in late 2023 and continued into 2024. Iranian authorities have also announced plans to escalate deportations in 2025.

“Reaching the one million mark reflects the capacity of both IOM and our partner agencies, as well as our ongoing commitment to supporting Afghans returning to a country where many have little or nothing to come back to,” said IOM Afghanistan Chief of Mission, Mihyung Park.

“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.

As lead of the Border Consortium, IOM said it was ready to strengthen its response and expand operations at key border points to address the sharp increase in arrivals and the heightened vulnerability of returnees – but this can only happen with urgent additional resources to overcome current funding shortfalls.”

sa/mud