Kabul, Aug 4 (IANS) As Pakistan and Iran continue to deport Afghan nationals, a number of recently returned people at the Kabul camp have expressed concerns regarding their dire living conditions. The deportees have urged Taliban regime and humanitarian agencies to facilitate their relocation to various provinces, provide essential aid, create job opportunities and ensure access to education for their children.
Afghan returnees have said that they are living under harsh conditions due to lack of unemployment, shelter and absence of basic services. Adina Samadi, an Afghan national deported from Iran, urged Taliban-led administration to address the situation of returnees, Afghanistan-based Tolo News reported.
Samadi said, “Our demand is for the government to address the situation of returnees. I came by vehicle, and along the way, my mother became ill. We faced many problems and arrived late because for the past 20 days, we haven’t even found a vehicle to take us to the city we want to go to, like Takhar.”
Another deportee from Iran, Khyber, urged Taliban to provide support to returnees at an earliest, requesting them to give them homes and means to live. The deportee further said, “Right now, we have no house; we’ve been sleeping here in the camp for four days, and we have nowhere to go.”
Zalmai, a deportee presently living at the Kabul camp, said that he is due to be relocated to Kunduz and expressed hope that a proper facility will be there for returning migrants. “We ask the government to help us. Right now, we have no place to live and are staying in this camp. We don’t know if Kunduz even has a camp — and if it does, will they accept us? Otherwise, we’ll have no choice but to sleep by the roadside with just a blanket.”
Meanwhile, the Commission for Refugee Affairs has said it is making efforts to provide facilities to returnees from neighbouring countries, especially Iran and Pakistan. As many as 544 families returned to Afghanistan through Islam Qala.
Calling for more efforts to ensure the successful integration of Afghan returnees into society, Migrants rights activist said, “The current efforts are still insufficient. There needs to be more action to address existing challenges and ensure the successful integration of returnees into society, something the Islamic Emirate must prioritize.”
On July 31, a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report said that nearly 1.2 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan since September 2023. In the report, the UNHCR noted that many of the Afghans who have returned, face dire conditions and called for urgent aid to prevent a worsening humanitarian crisis.
Over 156,000 returnees, including 98,000 registered cardholders, have received humanitarian assistance since returning to Afghanistan. UNHCR noted that women and girl make up about half of those receiving aid while roughly 2.2 per cent of all returnees are people who are specially-abled, Afghanistan-based Khaama Press reported, citing the report.
The agency stated that more than 315,000 Afghans came back to Afghanistan in 2025 alone, including 51,000 who were forcibly deported by Pakistani authorities. According to the report, many Afghan returnees face bleak conditions, lacking proper housing, jobs and access to essential services in Afghanistan. Aid agencies have called on Afghan authorities and the international community to increase support, warning that the wave of returnees could deepen humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan if assistance is not provided.
–IANS
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