RASC News Agency: Amid the accelerating expulsion of Afghanistani migrants from neighboring countries, the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar state agency reported that on Friday, August 31, at least 1,693 families were forced back into Afghanistan within 24 hours. According to officials from the Taliban-run Commission for Refugee Affairs, these families entered through multiple border crossings: 918 via Islam Qala, 141 through Pul-e Abrisham from Iran, 541 via Torkham, and 93 through Spin Boldak from Pakistan. The figures indicate a sharp increase in returnees compared to recent days, when fewer than a thousand families were entering daily. The surge comes as deadlines imposed by host nations draw near. Iran has given Afghanistani migrants until September 5 to leave voluntarily, while Pakistan has set September 1 as the deadline for holders of the “PoR” (Proof of Registration) cards, after which forced deportations are expected to intensify.
Iranian officials have already confirmed that since the beginning of this year alone, more than 1.2 million Afghanistani migrants have been expelled, with at least 800,000 more expected to follow. In Pakistan, over a million individuals holding PoR cards face the imminent threat of expulsion once the grace period ends. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reported that nearly four million Afghanistani migrants have returned from Iran and Pakistan over the past two years. Disturbingly, IOM’s findings reveal that over 80 percent of these returns were forced, underscoring the scale of coercion. This unprecedented wave of deportations is placing immense strain on Afghanistan’s already fragile infrastructure, deepening the humanitarian crisis. Families are returning to a country ravaged by unemployment, collapsing public services, and a regime that has demonstrated neither the competence nor the will to provide shelter, healthcare, or livelihoods.
International aid organizations warn that the continuation of these mass returns risks pushing Afghanistan further into the abyss of food insecurity and internal displacement. Humanitarian agencies stress the urgent need for immediate international funding and intervention, warning that without it, the crisis could spiral into a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe. The warnings come at a time when global aid to Afghanistan has been drastically declining. Relief agencies report that humanitarian assistance is shrinking month by month, and if this trend continues, Afghanistan could face one of the worst hunger crises in its modern history. Analysts argue that the Taliban’s isolation, repressive governance, and failure to secure international legitimacy have only compounded the suffering of millions, leaving returnees in particular with nowhere to turn but to the already overstretched informal support networks.
