The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) announced that more than 1.2 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan and Iran have returned to Afghanistan in 2024.
More than 1.1 million people have entered the country from Iran, 80,500 from Pakistan, and 100,000 through the airport.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) published a report on Wednesday, December 18, on the occasion of World Migration Day, saying that in 2024, more than 1.1 million Afghans returned to Afghanistan from Iran without documentation, 66% of whom were forcibly deported. The organisation said that many of them reached the Afghan border with limited financial and material resources and went to areas of the country that are struggling with challenging economic conditions and high unemployment.
In its report, the organisation did not mention the number of migrants who left Afghanistan during this year.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) had announced in August this year that nearly eight million Afghan citizens have left their homeland between 2020 and 2024. The organisation said that one million Afghans have taken refuge in European countries and 85 percent have gone to neighbouring countries.
In addition to political and economic issues, Afghanistan is grappling with the devastating effects of climate change. In fact, climate change has replaced conflict as the main driver of displacement, the UN said.
Flash floods swept through five provinces in eastern and central Afghanistan in August this year. The homes of thousands of families were damaged, hundreds of people lost their lives, and the destruction of agricultural land led to increased food insecurity among the affected populations.
Four 6.3-magnitude earthquakes last year in Herat province affected more than half a million people, according to IOM humanitarian teams. A recent report by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) surveyed almost 240 households affected by last year's disaster in Herat and found that more than 80 percent of them still do not have access to toilets, decent living spaces and clean drinking water.
Across Afghanistan, communities have made the difficult decision to leave their homes and migrate inside and outside Afghanistan in search of better economic opportunities, stability and security to overcome disasters, economic instability and the lasting effects of decades of conflict, the UN said.
According to the organisation, after the Taliban takeover in 2021, the Afghan people have faced ongoing political and economic insecurity, along with a decline in freedom, especially for women. According to the World Bank, almost half of Afghans live in poverty, and women are disproportionately affected. Millions of families rely on remittances or humanitarian aid to survive.
