Half a Million Afghan Children Return Unaccompanied from Iran and Pakistan This Year

Photo by ANI via The News Mill

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has announced that in this year alone, more than two million Afghan migrants have returned from Iran and Pakistan to Afghanistan, a figure that includes around 500,000 children.

UNICEF has warned that many of these children have returned unaccompanied or separated from their families and are in urgent need of support.

According to the agency, by the end of July 2025, more than six thousand unaccompanied or separated children in Afghanistan have been identified, placed under protection, and reunited with their families and relatives.

In this regard, UNICEF has launched a project titled “Children on the Move” in collaboration with the European Union, which provides these children with services including food, clothing, bedding, psychological support, and safe spaces for play and social interaction. The aim of this program is to provide immediate assistance and reunification of these children with their families.

This comes as the ongoing forced deportation of Afghan migrants from neighboring countries has severely intensified the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and increased the need for urgent humanitarian aid, especially for children.