As Iran and Pakistan ramp up mass deportations of Afghan migrants under the guise of national security, nearly a million people—many long-settled and undocumented—are being pushed into a country ill-equipped to receive them. There is an urgent need for a coordinated regional response before the crisis spirals further.
Exodus
Following the 12 day-war Israel-Iran war in June 2025, Tehran has launched one of its largest deportation campaigns in decades, expelling Afghan migrants under the pretext of national security. Authorities have accused them of espionage and links to Israel, stoking anti-Afghan sentiment and exposing the community to increased violence and discrimination.
On Afghanistan’s western frontier, the human toll is visible: weary families, barefoot children, and overloaded trucks flood crossings like Islam Qala and Milak. In June alone, over 256,000 Afghans returned from Iran—28,000 in a single day, a record figure, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). By mid-2025, Iran had expelled more than 700,000 Afghans. Including those forced back from Pakistan, total returns exceeded 890,000.
Unwanted migrants
As early as March 2025, Iranian authorities announced plans to deport all undocumented Afghan nationals, ordering them to leave by early July or face arrest. The campaign—widely covered by Iranian media—aimed to expel up to two million undocumented migrants, a scale confirmed by Al Jazeera’s reporting.
Although deportations had been steadily increasing since April, they surged sharply after Israel’s direct attack on Iran on June 13. In the weeks that followed, reports of arrests, harassment, and forced removals of Afghans multiplied. Iranian state-linked media aired interviews with detained Afghans accused of espionage, and in some cases, individuals were deported despite holding valid residency documents. According to the Mixed Migration Centre, after a brief lull during the initial conflict escalation, enforcement resumed aggressively in cities such as Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz. Tehran province alone hosts over 1.5 million Afghans, many of them undocumented.
Fear and suspicion
Ironically, many Afghan migrants had fled their homeland during times of war in search of safety and stability in Iran. Yet, the recent Israeli bombardments drastically altered the climate. Amid heightened fear and suspicion, Afghan migrants became politically expendable. As one woman told Al Jazeera, “We came here for safety, but bombs were falling on our heads.”
Many of those forced to return had lived in Iran for years. Some were activists, former soldiers in the Afghan army, or widows raising children alone. Lacking legal documentation, they were denied access to aid, formal employment, and legal protection—leaving them with little choice but to depart under mounting pressure.
A dire situation
Afghanistan, still reeling from decades of conflict, lacks the capacity to support the mass influx of deportees. Reintegration efforts at the border have been minimal. According to the IOM, only 10% of returnees in June received basic aid such as food, water, medical care, or temporary shelter. Reception centres in Herat and Nimroz are overwhelmed, forcing many to sleep in the open without assistance or a clear destination.
Under Taliban rule and dependent on dwindling humanitarian aid, Afghanistan is ill-equipped to absorb such large-scale returns. The healthcare system is severely underfunded, food prices are rising, and reintegration budgets—especially for housing and documentation—are critically limited.
Pakistan’s parallel expulsions
The crisis is not limited to Iran. Since late 2023, Pakistan has also escalated deportations, setting strict deadlines for Afghan citizens to leave. By April 2025, the government had authorised arrests and property seizures for those without legal status.
Between September 2023 and April 2025, over 2.4 million undocumented Afghans returned from both Iran and Pakistan. A Gender Alert by humanitarian agencies notes that women and children accounted for nearly half of the returnees, many of whom had never lived in Afghanistan before.
The simultaneous pressure from both borders has pushed Afghanistan’s border infrastructure and social systems to the brink. In March 2025, the Torkham border closed for two weeks after a firefight between Taliban and Pakistani border forces, further complicating the transit of families and aid.
Urgent action is needed
The mass deportations of Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan are occurring amid a global retreat in humanitarian funding. With the U.S. and key European donors shifting budgets toward military and security priorities, local and regional actors are being forced to shoulder a growing humanitarian crisis with shrinking resources. This is no longer just a refugee issue—it poses a serious regional risk.
If the pace of expulsions continues without reintegration support, the fallout could be severe: destabilised border provinces, unchecked migration flows, strained urban infrastructure, and renewed displacement across the region.
A proposed framework
An urgent, coordinated policy response is needed—starting with the creation of a Regional Reintegration Fund. Backed by major donors such as the EU, Gulf states, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, this emergency mechanism should target high-pressure areas like Herat, Nimroz, and Nangarhar with investments in housing, education, and livelihoods. Stabilising these provinces is not only a humanitarian necessity—it is a strategic imperative for regional security.
Second, the region needs a Joint Repatriation Coordination Body. Ad hoc returns, mass deportations, and policy reversals have left migrants and humanitarian actors alike in a state of chaos. A standing mechanism involving Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, IOM, and UNHCR would ensure that returns are phased, dignified, and documented. It would also facilitate communication, data sharing, and real-time monitoring, thereby reducing the risks of sudden surges or unmanaged border closures.
At the community level, what’s needed is more than temporary shelter. The return system must be reimagined through Community-Based Reintegration Hubs—centres not only for physical reception but also for recovery and rebuilding. These hubs should provide vocational training, mental health services, transitional housing, and documentation support, particularly for women-headed households and their children. Reintegration is not a one-week process; it’s a long-term investment in social cohesion and stability.
Finally, the regional system needs guardrails. Emergency Diplomatic Triggers—coordinated through platforms like the OIC or SAARC—must be put in place to prevent the use of deportation as a political weapon during times of conflict. These triggers should enable diplomatic de-escalation, pre-emptive coordination, and rapid humanitarian assessments when forced returns threaten to spiral into broader instability.
In short, the region stands at a tipping point. These policy mechanisms are not radical—they are realistic. What’s needed now is not just action, but agreement: that displacement is not someone else’s problem, and that reintegration is not a luxury, but the only way forward.
The time to act is now
This unfolding crisis is not simply a matter of migration policy—it is a test of regional leadership, international responsibility, and shared humanity. Without immediate and coordinated action, the forced return of Afghans will continue to fuel instability, deepen humanitarian suffering, and undermine long-term peacebuilding efforts. The solutions exist; what remains is the political will to act.
The time to move from reactive deportations to proactive reintegration is now—before a preventable crisis becomes a permanent fault line.
