2.2 Million Afghan Refugees Return in Past 7 Months

UN Deputy Spokesperson: Returning women and girls face growing threats of poverty, early marriage, violence, exploitation, and unprecedented restrictions on their rights, movement, and freedoms

The United Nations announced that since the start of 2025, 2.2 million Afghan refugees have returned from Iran and Pakistan through border crossings to their homeland.

The UN warned that without urgent support from the international community, existing aid systems risk serious collapse — a failure that would put millions of lives in danger.

Farhan Haq, the UN Deputy Spokesperson, told a press briefing on Thursday:

“Women and girls make up one-third of those returning from Iran in 2025 and nearly half of those returning from Pakistan.”

He added:

“Returning women and girls face increasing risks of poverty, early marriage, violence, exploitation, and unprecedented restrictions on their rights, mobility, and freedoms.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) also warned in a statement that Afghan women and girls returning from Iran and Pakistan urgently need humanitarian assistance to rebuild their lives in communities already under severe economic and environmental pressure.

According to the statement, many of these individuals are returning to a country they have never lived in before, where they face a lack of housing, income, education, and access to healthcare services.

The statement noted:

“Returning women and girls face the dangers of poverty, early marriage, violence, and severe restrictions on their rights and freedoms. Only 10 percent of female-headed households have permanent shelter.”

Separately, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) also warned of the large-scale return of migrants from neighboring countries to Afghanistan, stating in a release that over four million migrants have returned to Afghanistan in the past two years.

The IOM called for stronger regional cooperation and immediate international support.

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