UNHCR warns of rising risks to returning Afghans

Agency says returnees arriving cold, exhausted, calls for urgent donor support

ISLAMABAD:

As winter sets in and temperatures fall across the region, thousands of Afghans — including refugees and asylum-seekers — are returning to Afghanistan under mounting pressure, despite the country's grave human rights and humanitarian situation.

UNHCR has confirmed that more than one million Afghans have returned from Pakistan to Afghanistan in 2025. "In the right circumstances, this would be something to celebrate," said Philippa Candler, UNHCR Representative in Pakistan. "But under the current conditions, it raises more concerns than solutions."

UNHCR has been scaling up its presence at border crossing points, where returnees - many of them women and children — are arriving cold, exhausted and in urgent need of support. The agency and its partners are providing immediate assistance, including temporary shelter, relief items and protection services.

However, with winter intensifying and humanitarian resources severely strained, the gap between needs and available support is widening rapidly.

Without sustained and expanded assistance, the sustainability of returns from both Iran and Pakistan remains in question. If returnees cannot reintegrate effectively, onward movement becomes inevitable.

In Afghanistan, nine in ten people live in poverty, and the combined impact of economic crisis, unemployment and weakened public services is leaving families exposed. More than 2.2 million people have returned from Pakistan and Iran in 2025 with little to rebuild their lives, while recent earthquakes have further deepened their hardship.

With governments' support declining, UNHCR is calling on individual and private donors to help raise at least 35 million to deliver life-saving assistance in Afghanistan and other hard-hit regions.

These funds will help vulnerable families stay warm, safe and supported during the harsh winter months.

The agency urged the Government of Pakistan to ensure that Afghans with specific protection needs are exempted from the provisions of the Illegal Foreigner Repatriation Plan (IFRP).