Afghan authorities report return of over 13k refugees in 1 day

KABUL, July 1: A total of 3,284 Afghan families with 13,029 members returned to their homeland from neighboring Iran and Pakistan on Monday, Afghanistan’s High Commission for Addressing Returnees Problems announced Tuesday.
The refugees have come home via the Islam Qala border crossing in western Herat province, the Torkham border crossing in eastern Nangarhar province, the Spin Boldak border crossing in southern Kandahar province, and the Abrisham border crossing in western Nimroz province, it said.
Over 1.2 million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan so far in 2025, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Nearly 7 million Afghan refugees, most of whom are undocumented, are currently living abroad, with most living in Iran and Pakistan.
The authorities of both countries have asked undocumented foreign nationals to end their illegal stay and return home.
NHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is witnessing a sharp increase in the number of Afghans returning in adverse circumstances from Iran, warning that returns on a massive scale have the potential to destabilise the fragile situation in Afghanistan.
Over 640,000 Afghans have returned from Iran since the implementation of a return deadline by the Government on 20 March this year, with over 366,000 deported, including refugees and people in refugee-like situations.
“Afghan families are being uprooted once again, arriving with scant belongings, exhausted, hungry, scared about what awaits them in a country many of them have never even set foot in. Women and girls are particularly worried, as they fear the restrictions on freedom of movement and basic rights such as education and employment,” Arafat Jamal, UNHCR Representative said in Kabul.
(UNI)

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