Overview

• Since September 2023 more than 4 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan and Iran, including 1.5 million arrivals in 2025 and an expected 1 million more from Pakistan
• The International Organization for Migration operates reception centers at Islam Qala, Milak, Torkham and Spin Boldak but reports it can help only one in ten people who need aid
• UN Women and CARE International warn that returnee women and girls face heightened risks of poverty, early marriage, violence and exploitation and are banned from secondary education
• Cuts in foreign aid have sharply eroded mahram support for female humanitarian workers in Kandahar and Nangarhar, delaying or preventing delivery of gender-sensitive assistance
• The Taliban government disputes UN allegations of rights abuses by saying it protects women’s inheritance rights and addresses legal complaints, a claim critics and activists challenge