UNITED NATIONS — As a wave of undocumented Afghan migrants continues to surge back into Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan, a new UN-led report paints a stark and deeply troubling picture, especially for the nation’s women and girls, reported by APP. Forced to return to a homeland mired in humanitarian crisis, they face a reality marked by fear, deprivation, and the erosion of basic rights.
Since September 2023, over 2.43 million Afghans have been repatriated—many involuntarily—from neighboring Iran and Pakistan. According to the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group, led by UN Women and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), this mass return has strained Afghanistan’s fragile support systems to the breaking point.
Women and girls comprise nearly half of returnees from Pakistan. From Iran, the proportion of female returnees has risen sharply in recent months, reaching 30 percent in June. With humanitarian services already stretched thin, the burden falls disproportionately on women, many of whom are now arriving back in Afghanistan alone, displaced, and without access to protection or support.
Of particular concern are women returning without a mahram—a male guardian—which places them at higher risk for exploitation, violence, and abuse at border crossings. Field interviews conducted by the Working Group recount alarming incidents of extortion, harassment, and threats of physical violence during re-entry.
Once inside the country, the situation worsens. Women face an escalating threat of gender-based violence, early and forced marriage, human trafficking, and transactional sex, often as desperate measures for survival. One humanitarian worker in Kandahar reported the harrowing case of a widow attempting to sell her daughters to feed the rest of her family.
Access to safe shelters, mental health care, and psychosocial support is severely lacking—especially at border entry points where emotional trauma is acute. Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services (MHPSS) remain limited, leaving thousands of distressed women without even the most basic resources for recovery.
Across the provinces, women consistently cite shelter, livelihood opportunities, and girls’ education as their most urgent needs. Alarming figures highlight the depth of the crisis: only 10% of women-headed households have permanent shelter, while 38% fear imminent eviction. In Herat, 71% of women face rent-related disputes, and nearly half live in inadequate housing.
Many women who once earned livelihoods through tailoring, crafts, or home-based work now find themselves unable to resume. Barriers include a lack of tools, movement restrictions, loss of social networks, and missing or invalid documentation.
With returns expected to continue in the coming months, the report calls for a rapid scale-up of gender-responsive humanitarian services, including safe spaces, mental health support, livelihood assistance, and education access.
UN Women, UNFPA, and humanitarian partners are urging the international community to step up with emergency funding and sustained support to prevent a worsening gendered crisis in Afghanistan.
“The needs are dire, and time is not on our side,” said one field coordinator. “If the world turns away now, Afghan women and girls will bear the cost for generations.”
