since the Taliban seized Kabul four years ago, millions of Afghan civilians face ongoing turmoil and instability in their homeland.
In a dramatic turn of events, over 1.5 million Afghans have returned to their homeland this year, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM). This mass migration, primarily driven by expulsions from Iran and Pakistan, has led to a deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
The reasons for the expulsions are rooted in security concerns and immigration control measures, with Pakistan accelerating the expulsion of Afghan refugees since April and Iran deporting hundreds of thousands. These actions, however, have violated the principle of non-refoulement, a fundamental protection for recognized refugees against forced return.
The humanitarian consequences for returnees in Afghanistan are severe. The country is already grappling with widespread poverty, hunger, and collapsing health services. Over 2.1 million returnees in 2025 have strained fragile infrastructure, including health systems that are buckling under this influx.
Women, girls, and minorities face systematic human rights abuses under Taliban rule, including gender apartheid, political exclusion, arbitrary arrests, and violence. The International Criminal Court has charged senior Taliban leaders with crimes against humanity for such violations.
Returnees often arrive in makeshift camps after exhausting journeys, facing dire living conditions without adequate shelter or food. Many had never felt welcomed in Iran or Pakistan, compounding their vulnerability.
The mass and hasty returns increase protection needs and risk political instability within Afghanistan and the broader region due to insufficient resources for reintegration and humanitarian aid cuts.
UNHCR is calling for an increase in funding and support to protect and assist Afghans forced to flee. However, the organisation has less than a quarter of the funding it needs to address the emergency situation in Afghanistan and neighboring countries. International NGOs are operating with inadequate funding to address the many issues in Afghanistan.
As a result, over 400 health facilities, 400 acute malnutrition centers, and 300 clinics for survivors of gender-based violence have shut down due to aid cuts. The World Food Program reported that 3.1 million Afghans are on the brink of starvation.
The U.S., which was Afghanistan's largest donor, had been providing significant aid until the Taliban takeover in 2021. Since then, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) announced in April 2025 that it was cutting nearly all assistance programs to Afghanistan. This decision has had a ripple effect, with the U.K. reducing its aid to Afghanistan by 19% after the U.S.'s April announcement.
Some returnees haven't been in Afghanistan since fleeing it decades ago, according to Arafat Jamal, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative in Afghanistan. The International Rescue Committee has had to suspend some of their education services in Afghanistan.
The situation at the Afghan border is heart-wrenching, with returnees arriving in buses "bewildered, disoriented, and tired and hungry," according to Jamal. Iran ordered all of the estimated 2 million undocumented Afghans to leave the country earlier this year.
One poignant example of the crisis's impact is a pregnant woman who needed medical help but couldn't go to her local clinic, which had shuttered due to aid cuts, and ultimately lost her life, according to Zahra.
In summary, forced expulsions are driving a dire socio-political and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, deeply affecting vulnerable populations and stretching an already fragile state to the limit. The international community must act urgently to provide the necessary funding and support to protect and assist these returning Afghans.
[1] UNHCR, "Afghanistan: Forced returns and returns in dangerous conditions", 2025. [2] IOM, "Afghanistan: Returnees face dire living conditions", 2025. [3] Amnesty International, "Afghanistan: Taliban rule brings systematic human rights abuses", 2025. [4] WHO, "Afghanistan's health system on the brink", 2025. [5] Human Rights Watch, "Iran: Mass expulsion of Afghans", 2025.
- The human rights situation in Afghanistan is worsening due to the mass expulsion of refugees, as evidenced by systematic abuses against women, girls, and minorities under Taliban rule.
- The climate of violence and political exclusion, coupled with poverty, hunger, and collapsing health services, are creating a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions.
- The environmental science sector is also at risk, as insufficient resources for reintegration and humanitarian aid cuts have led to the closure of multiple health facilities, malnutrition centers, and clinics for survivors of gender-based violence.
- The shutdown of these facilities, reported by the World Food Program, is exacerbating the food crisis in Afghanistan, with 3.1 million people on the brink of starvation.
- The international community, via organizations like the United Nations, International Organization for Migration (IOM), and Amnesty International, is calling for increased funding and support to address this crisis, but they are operating with significantly less funding than required.
- The dire living conditions in makeshift camps, lacking adequate shelter and food, are a stark testament to the reality faced by returnees.
- The science and health-and-wellness sectors are also affected, with education services being suspended and the health system buckling under the strain of the influx of returnees.
- General news and crime-and-justice outlets are reporting on the impact of these events on political stability within Afghanistan and the broader region, as the mass and hasty returns increase protection needs and risk instability.
