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CONTEXT
Afghanistan experienced large-scale return movements in 2025, with an estimated 2.9 million Afghan returns. These movements reflected a shift in the profile of returnees, many of whom had lived in Iran and Pakistan for prolonged periods while some born in those countries and returned under duress and adverse conditions. Policy changes, tightening documentation regimes, misinformation, disinformation, and deteriorating socio-economic and protection conditions for Afghans in neighbouring countries, particularly Iran and Pakistan, were key drivers. Returns frequently involved abrupt departures, limited time to prepare, abandoned assets, family separation, inhuman detention conditions and difficult journeys back to Afghanistan, heightening protection risks on arrival and straining reception and reintegration capacities in areas of return.
In Pakistan, the Government announced the resumption of the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan (IFRP) on 7 March 2025, initially targeting Afghan Citizenship Card (ACC) holders, who were instructed to leave voluntarily by 31 March or face deportation from 1 April. On 31 July, the policy was expanded to include Afghan refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, with a one-month grace period ending on 31 August. Since April, some 1 million Afghans returned from Pakistan, many facing uncertainty about their legal status, limited assets and capacity to subsist, and constrained access to basic services upon return.
The implementation of the IFRP has contributed to a deteriorating protection environment in Pakistan, marked by increases in child labour, forced and early marriage, gender-based violence, harassment, and exploitation. Mental health and psychosocial support needs have risen sharply, with refugees reporting widespread stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma driven by fears of arrest, deportation, and worsening financial hardship. Furthermore, the lack of valid documentation has reportedly resulted in denial of access to essential services, including healthcare and education, as well as restricted access to lawful employment and adequate housing.
In Iran, returns and deportations intensified from mid-2025 as border enforcement tightened and the authorities’ increased deportations against the backdrop of the conflict with Israel, a spike in misinformation and disinformation, worsening socio-economic and protection conditions for Afghans and the expiry of temporary stay permits held by hundreds of thousands of people since March 2025. Daily returns exceeded 40,000 in July, illustrating the scale and speed of return/deportation movements. Combined returns/deportations from Iran and Pakistan reached unprecedented levels over the year, placing significant pressure on already stretched border reception, transit facilities and community-level absorption capacity in Afghanistan.
UNHCR reiterates concern that many Afghans—regardless of documentation status—face serious protection risks in Afghanistan due to the current human rights situation, especially women and girls, in line with its updated UNHCR’s Guidance Note on Afghanistan – Update II (September 2025) on Afghanistan.
Deportations from Tajikistan also contributed to overall return figures in 2025. A total of 1,953 Afghans were deported over the course of the year, with relatively low numbers recorded in the first half, followed by a sharp spike in July (955 deportations) and fluctuating returns through the remainder of the year. While comparatively limited in scale, these movements nonetheless add pressure on reintegration capacities in Afghanistan.