RASC News Agency: Afghanistan’s major cities are buckling under the pressure of a rapidly escalating housing crisis. Triggered by the forced deportation of hundreds of thousands of Afghanistani migrants from Iran and Pakistan, rental prices in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif, and other urban centers have surged at an alarming rate doubling or even tripling within mere weeks. Local sources report that the sudden influx of returning families has overwhelmed an already fragile housing market. Many returnees, stripped of assets and support networks in their host countries, are arriving home to find no shelter and unaffordable rental prices, while the Taliban regime stands idly by, offering neither policy nor support.
In Kabul, property agents note an explosive increase in demand for rental housing. “A house that rented for 6,000 Kabuli rupees two months ago now goes for 12,000 or more,” said a housing broker in Shahr-e-Naw. In Mazar-i-Sharif, residents have witnessed rental hikes ranging between 70 to 100 percent in just a matter of weeks. This unregulated spike in rent has pushed thousands of returnees into precarious living conditions. Many are crammed into relatives’ homes, while others sleep under open skies, exposed to the elements. Aid workers warn that without immediate intervention, Afghanistan faces the very real threat of a shelter catastrophe.
The Taliban, despite their absolute control over state institutions, have offered no national resettlement plan, no housing relief policy, and no legal safeguards to protect vulnerable renters. This inaction has fueled widespread resentment among displaced citizens who see the regime as complicit in their suffering either through negligence or silent approval of market exploitation. Several Kabul residents took to social media to voice their frustration. “The same people who were humiliated and stripped of their rights in Iran and Pakistan are now being exploited by their own countrymen. Landlords have become predators in this lawless market,” one user wrote.
Another added: “Where is the justice? The Taliban silence emboldens the greedy.” Economic experts argue that the absence of any regulatory authority has allowed landlords to exploit demand with impunity. Under Taliban rule, there is no housing ministry with teeth, no consumer protections, and no economic planning only opportunism. “The Taliban’s failure to implement even the most basic housing policy reflects their broader incompetence in governance,” said a Kabul-based economist who requested anonymity. “Afghanistan is facing a multi-dimensional crisis economic, humanitarian, and political yet the regime is completely disengaged.”
According to international organizations, nearly two million Afghanistani migrants have been forcibly repatriated from Iran and Pakistan since May 2025. Many were expelled with no legal process, deprived of wages, and robbed of belongings along the way. Upon arrival, they face a collapsed economy, no employment opportunities, and no state support. The United Nations and its affiliated agencies have warned that this uncontrolled surge of returnees is rapidly overwhelming all sectors shelter, food, healthcare, and sanitation. UN officials have urged the international community to urgently finance emergency relief operations in Afghanistan before the crisis spirals further out of control.
Yet for now, the Taliban’s silence is deafening. Rather than respond with compassion or leadership, the regime continues to treat its own people as disposable, fueling a sense of abandonment among the very citizens it claims to govern.
