As the deportation of migrants by Pakistan and Iran continues, at least 3,300 individuals returned to Afghanistan on Wednesday, Jan. 7, the Taliban’s commission for refugees said.
In a daily report, the commission said 595 families, comprising 3,294 individuals, were registered after returning through several entry points, including Torkham in Nangarhar province, Spin Boldak in Kandahar, Islam Qala in Herat and the Silk Road crossing in Nimroz.
The largest number of returnees entered through the Torkham border crossing with Pakistan, where 517 families, or 2,908 people, were registered, the report said.
At Spin Boldak, 47 families with 262 members returned, while 21 families crossed into Herat via Islam Qala. In Nimroz, 10 families comprising 42 people returned through the Silk Road crossing, along with 359 individual travellers, according to the statement.
The commission said the returns were involuntary, though it did not provide further details on the circumstances.
Afghanistan has seen a sharp increase in returns from neighbouring countries in recent years, particularly Pakistan and Iran, amid stepped-up enforcement measures against undocumented migrants.
Figures by the United Nations show that 2.6 million migrants repatriated to Afghanistan in 2025, mostly from Iran and Pakistan. The UN has previously warned that large-scale returns are placing severe pressure on Afghanistan’s limited resources and humanitarian response capacity.
