Desperate Afghan refugees return to an unfamiliar home

The agency is calling for calm and cooperation to provide a dignified path forward for millions of displaced Afghans.

More than 1.6 million Afghans have returned from both neighbouring countries in 2024 alone, according to UNHCR – a figure that has already surpassed earlier forecasts for the entire year.

‘From Afghanistan – not of Afghanistan’

The scale and speed of these returns are placing enormous pressure on border provinces ill-equipped to absorb them, exacerbating poverty, insecurity and humanitarian need in a country still reeling from economic collapse and widespread human rights abuses.

Complicating the situation further is the fact that many returnees – especially women and children – are coming back to a country they barely know.

“They are from Afghanistan [but] not of Afghanistan – often born abroad with better education and different cultural norms. Their outlook is different from and often at odds with present day Afghanistan,” says Arafat Jamal, UNHCR Representative in the country.

Women and girls in particular face a jarring shift: from relative autonomy in host countries to a context where their rights are severely restricted by edicts from Taliban authorities.

© UNICEF/Shehzad Noorani

Women’s rights in Afghanistan continue to face severe setbacks, with restrictions deepening across education, employment and public life

Disorientated and disorganised

He reported conditions that he had seen for himself recently in Islam Qala, a key border crossing with Iran.

Daily arrivals have surged to around 50,000 people, many of them disoriented and exhausted after arduous journeys. UN officials described scenes of desperation at reception centres.

“Many of these returnees have been abruptly uprooted and have undergone arduous, exhausting and degrading journeys – they arrive tired, disoriented, brutalised and often in despair, and they sprawl throughout a crowded centre in often 40°C (104°F) heat,” Mr. Jamal said.

While some returns are voluntary, he added that many are occurring under duress or without proper protections in place. Those returning include both officially registered refugees and people in “refugee-like” situations who may face serious risks upon arrival.

Funding crisis

The UN and humanitarian partners have mounted a broad-based response along the borders, providing food, water, health services, protection and onward transportation.

However, funding shortfalls are critically hampering operations. UNHCR’s response is just 28 per cent funded as of July, forcing aid agencies to ration supplies and make painful choices.

“We are living on borrowed funds,” Mr. Jamal said. “Daily, we are asking ourselves – should we give one blanket instead of four? One meal instead of three? These are heartbreaking, soul-destroying decisions.”

The situation is equally dire for other agencies: the wider, UN-led 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Afghanistan – which seeks $2.4 billion to assist nearly 17 million people across the country – is only 22 per cent funded.

Poverty and drought

Recent UN assessments have also warned of deteriorating conditions and deepening poverty within Afghanistan.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued alerts over worsening drought across much of the country, while the UN Development Programme (UNDP) reports that 70 per cent of Afghans already live at subsistence levels, as the collapse of public services and ongoing rights violations leaves millions in despair.

As returnees cross the border, often without notice or resources, local populations are being stretched to the limit.

Mr. Jamal noted that this “precarity layered upon poverty” risks fuelling frustration, competition over limited resources and new forms of social tension.

“Afghanistan may be welcoming, but it is wholly unprepared to receive this volume of returnees,” he said. “The communities who are taking people in are doing so with great generosity, but they are themselves in crisis.”

Global attention

The growing emergency comes just days after the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution expressing “deep concern” over deteriorating conditions facing Afghans.

The resolution, passed with 116 votes in favour and only two against, urged the Taliban to reverse repressive policies and called for renewed international cooperation to support Afghan civilians.

The resolution highlighted the need for “coherent approaches” that bridge humanitarian, development and political efforts. It also called on donor countries to maintain or increase support.