Humanitarian Crisis Escalates as Over 200,000 Afghan Migrants Forced to Return Home

The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriates of the Taliban government announced that in the past three weeks, more than two hundred thousand Afghan migrants, including a number of prisoners, have been forcibly returned to the country from Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey…

The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriates of the Taliban government announced that in the last three weeks, more than two hundred thousand Afghan migrants have returned to the country from neighboring countries, including Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey.

Abdul Matleeb Haqqani, spokesperson for the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriates, stated in an interview with the national radio and television, which is under Taliban control, that among these individuals, there are also some prisoners, which has intensified the emergency situation and need for immediate assistance at the border crossings.

Call for Help to the Global Community

Mr. Haqqani, in a message, urged the global community to act to provide vital assistance and meet the basic needs of the returning migrants, considering the large scale of forced returns. The expulsion of undocumented Afghan migrants from Pakistan and Iran began about two years ago and has unprecedentedly intensified in recent months.

According to information from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), from the beginning of this year until November 6, a total of 2.4 million Afghan migrants have returned from Iran and Pakistan to Afghanistan. This enormous figure has placed Afghanistan on the brink of winter amid a major humanitarian and management crisis.