Attachments
Highlights
721,276 total returns from Iran and Pakistan since 01 Jan 2018
691,637 total returns from Iran since 01 Jan 2018
29,639 total returns from Pakistan since 01 Jan 2018
28,360 undocumented Afghans returned from Iran
587 undocumented Afghans returned from Pakistan
2% of returnees from Iran (585 individuals) assisted
87% of returnees from Pakistan (513 individuals) assisted
Return from Iran
A total of 28,360 undocumented Afghans spontaneously returned or were deported from Iran through the Milak (Nimroz) and Herat (Islam Qala) border crossings between 11 - 17 Nov 2018, 127% more than in the previous week (12,475) and the highest weekly return number from Iran this year. This sharp increase is a result of the winter weather and consequential fewer economic opportunities in Iran due to continuing economic woes. With ongoing funding constraints, IOM was only able to assist a limited number of 585 (2%) of Afghans returning from Iran at its Transit Centers in Nimroz and Herat, including 101 Unaccompanied Migrant Children (UMC), 53 Medical Cases (MC), 42 members of Single Parent Families (SP), 2 Single Females (SF), 6 Physically Disabled (PD), 35 Special Cases (SC), 0 member of Poor Families (PF) and 14 Unaccompanied Elderly (UE).
Situation Overview
Since 01 January 2018, IOM is responding to the return of over 700,000 undocumented Afghans from Pakistan and Iran.
Undocumented returns from Iran in particular are seeing a massive increase of more than 200,000 to over 460,000 total between January-July 2018 versus 187,000 during the same time period in 2017, largely driven by recent political and economic issues in Iran including massive currency devaluation. As Afghans primarily work in the informal economy in Iran the demand for this type of work is drastically reduced. Further as all Afghans typically send home their earnings in the form of monthly remittances, the Afghan economy itself, already evident in the drought affected provinces of Herat, Badghis and Ghor, is suffering direct and immediate effects.