The Taliban’s High Commission for Migrant Affairs announced that the Pakistani government expelled 5,441 Afghan migrants yesterday (Sunday, December 14).
These individuals entered the country through three border crossings: Torkham, Spin Boldak, and Bahramcha.
Taliban statistics indicate that since November 2, 291,641 Afghan migrants have forcibly returned from Pakistan.
The expulsion of Afghan migrants is an active policy of both Iran and Pakistan, and a source of serious concern for Afghanistan.
The two neighboring countries contend that they lack the capacity to host millions of migrants and wish for them to return home. Accusations such as “criminals, terrorists, and spies” have been primary drivers of this expulsion policy.
Afghanistan itself lacks the sufficient capacity to integrate the millions of returning migrants. Unemployment, a dire economic situation, human rights issues, and dozens of other challenges face these new arrivals.
Between September 2023 and September 2025, over 4.5 million Afghan migrants returned from Iran and Pakistan.
The influx of this number of people has led to an increase in housing rental prices and intensified competition for limited resources.
