As Iran and Pakistan continue deportations, more than 1,800 individuals returned to the country on Monday, Jan. 5, according to the Taliban’s commission for refugees.
The commission said that those returned included 1,210 from Pakistan and 598 from Iran.
The migrants re-entered Afghanistan via the Torkham, Spin Boldak, Pul-e-Abresham and Islam Qala border crossings, the commission said.
The latest deportations follow the return of 4,520 migrants from Iran and Pakistan the previous day, most of them forcibly expelled.
Speaking at a session in Kabul on Tuesday, Taliban deputy chief minister Abdul Salam Hanafi said at least 5,000 Afghan migrants are being deported from Iran and Pakistan every day.
“They are facing a very dire situation and need urgent assistance,” Hanafi said, calling for support to help returnees cope with shortages of shelter, food and basic services.
The United Nations has previously said that more than 2.6 million people, mostly from Iran and Pakistan, have returned to Afghanistan in 2025, warning that the influx is placing heavy pressure on the country’s fragile economy and humanitarian response capacity.
Pakistan has also recently stepped up arrests of Afghan migrants. Some returnees have previously told local media they faced mistreatment by Pakistani police.
International aid agencies have repeatedly warned that many returnees arrive with few resources and face difficult conditions, saying weak infrastructure and limited services raise the risks of poverty, renewed displacement and a deepening humanitarian crisis under the Taliban.
