A total of 52,561 Afghan families have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan over the past three months, according to the official Bakhtar News Agency, as international human rights bodies escalate warnings over the forced repatriation of Afghan refugees across the region.

Key Entry Points and Arrival Numbers

The returnees have entered Afghanistan primarily through two major crossings: the Spin Boldak border in southern Kandahar province and the Torkham crossing in eastern Nangarhar province. Afghan authorities and humanitarian organisations have been deploying assistance at both points, including transportation, cash support, healthcare services, and other essential aid to facilitate reintegration.

The volume of returnees has risen sharply in recent months, placing sustained pressure on resettlement infrastructure across the country.

Scale of the Broader Deportation Crisis

The three-month figure is part of a far larger displacement wave. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), nearly 270,000 Afghans have been deported to Afghanistan since the start of the year — the majority from Iran and Pakistan, with smaller numbers from Turkey and Tajikistan. This follows the deportation of over 1.2 million Afghan refugees from Iran and 150,000 from Pakistan in the previous year alone.

The UNHCR and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) have repeatedly called for returns to be safe and dignified, and have urged greater international support for returnees arriving in what the UN describes as one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises.

Human Rights Warnings from Amnesty and the UN

On 20 June, Amnesty International urged the international community to halt what it described as unlawful expulsions of Afghan refugees. In a post on X, the organisation said: "Millions of Afghan refugees are being expelled across the globe, and that number keeps climbing day by day. In host countries, they are facing arbitrary arrests and family separations; upon return, they are facing human rights violations amidst one of the most severe humanitarian crisis in the world."

Amnesty added: "The unlawful expulsions of Afghan people must stop, and people with international protection needs must be safeguarded as per international human rights law."

Earlier in May, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned against continued forced repatriation, calling it a violation of international human rights and refugee law. "Afghan women, children and men continue to be pushed out of countries where they had sought safety, forcing them to return to Afghanistan against their will and exposing them to grave risk," he said.

Turk invoked the core international law principle of non-refoulement — which prohibits returning individuals to places where they face serious risk of harm — and urged states to honour their legal obligations.

Who Faces the Greatest Risk

The UN human rights agency identified several groups as particularly vulnerable upon return: women and girls, individuals affiliated with the former Afghan government and its security forces, media workers, civil society members, and those from the LGBTIQ+ community, all of whom face the risk of reprisals and abuse under current conditions in Afghanistan.

What Comes Next

With deportation numbers continuing to climb and resettlement capacity under strain, the pressure on both Afghan authorities and international agencies is intensifying. The gap between the scale of returns and available humanitarian support remains a critical concern, with no coordinated international framework yet in place to manage the crisis at scale.