The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has sounded the alarm over the fate of approximately 110,000 Afghan refugees and asylum seekers in Pakistan who possess high-risk profiles and are in urgent need of international protection.
According to UNHCR, these individuals meet all the criteria for resettlement in third countries but remain stranded amid a surge of deportations.
In April 2025 alone, over 300,000 Afghans were repatriated to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
This includes nearly 44,500 from Pakistan—almost 30,000 of whom were forcibly expelled—and 170,200 from Iran.
UNHCR’s resettlement program, active since the 1980s, has provided pathways to safety for tens of thousands of Afghan refugees. Yet, since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, the number resettled has dwindled.
Fewer than 11,000 Afghan refugees have been accepted by the United States, and while some diplomatic missions and development agencies have promoted resettlement, the volume remains inadequate.
UNHCR emphasized that those in urgent need of protection include victims of violence, individuals with serious medical conditions, and women and children vulnerable to repression by the Taliban regime.
Despite mounting concerns, expulsions from Pakistan and Iran have accelerated in recent months.
The IFRC launched an emergency appeal to respond to the escalating crisis, as the influx of returnees—between 4,000 and 6,000 people in recent weeks—is overwhelming Afghanistan’s fragile infrastructure.
The country is already burdened by extreme poverty, food insecurity, drought, and long-standing internal displacement.
Pakistan began deporting Afghan citizens in October 2023 under a policy dubbed the “Repatriation Plan for Illegal Aliens.” However, even Afghans with valid residence permits have been forced out.
According to UN data, over a million Afghans have returned to Afghanistan in the past two years. Of these, 61 percent are minors, while 17 percent are women left to support their families alone. Roughly two-thirds of those repatriated had never lived in Afghanistan.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) recently joined the UNHCR and IFRC in highlighting the dire conditions of returnees. In a report published last week, the NRC warned of “severe poverty” afflicting those deported from Pakistan and Iran due to Afghanistan’s collapsed economy.
The NRC noted that in 2024 alone, over one million Afghans have been repatriated from Iran. UN estimates suggest the pace of returns could soon reach 20,000 people per day.
