Highlights
- 720 undocumented Afghans returned from Pakistan
- 7,546 undocumented Afghans returned from Iran
- 6,011 total returns from Pakistan since 01 Jan 2018
- 141,492 total returns from Iran since 01 Jan 2018
- 94% of returnees from Pakistan (676 individuals) assisted
- 3% of returnees from Iran (201 individuals) assisted
- 18 Unaccompanied Migrant Children (UMC) from Iran among those assisted, 0 from Pakistan
- 5 Medical Cases (MC) from Iran among those assisted, 0 from Pakistan
Situation Overview
IOM is responding to a substantial increase in the return of undocumented Afghans from Pakistan and Iran. Since 01 January 2018, over 147,000 undocumented Afghans have returned due to diverse push factors, including deteriorating protection space in Pakistan and Iran. Most of those returning have lived outside of Afghanistan for decades, and will need support from the government and humanitarian actors both on arrival and as they seek to reintegrate. As the rate of return is influenced by a number of political, security and other related factors both in Afghanistan and neighboring countries, another surge in returns could occur at any time. The governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan together with UN counterparts have now extended Proof of Registration cards for 1.4m Afghan refugees in Pakistan to 30 June 2018 and have begun the issuance of Afghan Citizenship Cards on 16 February for more than 850,000 undocumented Afghans. IOM is working to scale up its support to returnees in coordination with the Government of Afghanistan and other humanitarian partners in line with the 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP).