UNHCR: Over 600,000 Afghan Migrants Have Returned from Iran in the Past Six Months

Photo: AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has announced that in just the first six months of this year, around 640,000 Afghan migrants have returned from Iran, while 3,066 of them were forcibly deported.

Arefullah Jamal, the UNHCR representative in Kabul, expressed concern on Sunday (29 June) about the situation of returnees, saying that many families are coming back to Afghanistan with minimal belongings, exhausted, hungry, and uncertain about their future. He added that women and girls, in particular, are worried about restrictions on their freedom of movement and basic rights such as education and employment.

UNHCR has stressed that urgent support from the international community is needed to assist Afghan returnees. The agency said that despite the ongoing provision of basic aid to returnees, severe funding shortages are threatening the continuation of services for these individuals.