Return From Pakistan:
From 22 – 28 October, a total of 9,173 undocumented Afghans spontaneously returned or were deported from Pakistan through Nangarhar and Kandahar Province’s Torkham and Spin Boldak border crossing points according to the Border Monitoring Team of the Directorate of Refugees and Repatriation (DoRR). 8,714 were spontaneous returnees in family groups and 459 were deported individuals. This brings the total number of Afghan undocumented returnees from Pakistan to 210,998 in 2016.
The total this week represents a 1% increase from last week, however the spontaneous return of the families decreased by 4% whereas deportation increased by 86%. It is important to note that 437 undocumented Afghans were deported in one day on 27 October at the Spin Boldak border.
During the past week, IOM assisted 2,896 (36%) of all undocumented Afghans returnees through the Torkham crossing with post-arrival humanitarian assistance including meals and accommodation at the IOM Transit Center, NFIs for families, special assistance to Persons with Specific Needs (PSNs), a one-month food ration from WFP and family and hygiene kits from UNICEF.
Return from Iran:
During the same period a total of 11,402 undocumented Afghans spontaneously returned or were deported from Iran through Herat and Nimroz Province’s Islam Qala and Milak border crossing points according to the Border Monitoring Team of the Directorate of Refugees and Repatriation (DoRR). This represents an 8% increase in the return from Iran in comparison with last week. From total returnees 7,107 were spontaneous and 4,295 were deportees. This brings the total of undocumented returnees in 2016 to 371,623 from Iran.
IOM provided post-arrival humanitarian assistance to 331 (3%) undocumented Afghans through Islam Qala and Milak border crossing points at the IOM transit centers in Herat and Nimroz Provinces. As per the continued observation of the Border Monitoring Team of the DoRR, about 10% of the Undocumented Afghans returning spontaneously or forcefully from Iran are in need of humanitarian assistance, however, because of limited funding IOM was not able to reach this total.