Afghanistan aid system severely strained as 5 million people return, UN warns
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Villagers living in tents in Kunar province, Afghanistan, in December 2025.
PHOTO: THOMAS MUNITA/NYTIMES
- Over five million Afghans have returned from neighbouring states since late 2023, overwhelming UN relief efforts and worsening the country's hunger crisis.
- The UN warns this influx, representing 12% of Afghanistan's population, is a "massive demographic shock" pushing capacities "to the brink."
- UNHCR needs US$216 million to support returnees this year but has only secured 8% of required funding, according to Arafat Jamal.
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GENEVA - Over five million people have returned to Afghanistan from neighbouring states since expulsion policies began in late 2023, prompting the United Nations to warn on Feb 13 that relief efforts are becoming overwhelmed by thousands of daily arrivals.
Afghanistan is contending with a worsening hunger crisis driven by the mass deportations of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran, foreign aid cuts and economic crisis.
“We are deeply concerned about the sustainability of these returns,” Mr Arafat Jamal, the UN refugee agency representative from Afghanistan, told a Geneva press briefing.
“The massive demographic shock of this number of people, which is around 12 per cent of the population, is pushing us to the brink.”
In 2025, some 2.9 million people crossed back into Afghanistan, and so far this year, 150,000 people have returned, Mr Jamal said.
UNHCR needs US$216 million (S$272 million) to support the returnees this year, but the campaign is only 8 per cent funded, he added. REUTERS
