In 2024, January was the month with the highest number of assisted returns (12,603), representing close to one-quarter of the overall 2024 returns, which followed an even higher level of returns during the last quarter of 2023, the main drive for such a high number of returns was the October 3rd Pakistan’s national Apex Committee endorsement of the Illegal Foreigners' Repatriation Plan (IFRP) to repatriate over a million foreigners without valid documents, largely Afghans, requiring them to leave the country by 1 November. It is also worth noting that in the last four months of 2024 the number of assisted returns from Iran have increased considerably, registering 55% of the 2024 overall returns from Iran. This happened in a context where the yearly number of Afghans returned by the Iranian authorities to Afghanistan reached its highest since 2021.
Based on protection monitoring interviews, conducted upon arrival with returnees at Encashment Centres (ECs), reasons for returning from Pakistan such as fear of arrest/deportation, disrespectful treatment by police/state authorities, and uncertainty related to the Proof of Registration (PoR) card extension in Pakistan, decreased from April to December 2024 when compared to September 2023 to March 2024. Regarding those returning from Iran, in the past two years the two main reasons for return were high cost of living and lack of employment opportunities.
In 2024, 70% of the intended provinces of return focused predominantly on five provinces: Nangarhar (25%), Kabul (21%), Kandahar (9%), Kunduz (9%), and Laghman (6%). Of the overall returns, 79% are women and children, and some 2.3% of the individuals served have disabilities. In 2024, UNHCR assisted 54,720 Afghan returns1, (98.9% from Pakistan).