TEHRAN – More than 3.6 million Afghans returned from Iran in 2025, including around 1.2 million who were deported, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a report.

Returns from Iran accounted for nearly two-thirds of all Afghan returnees in 2025 and remained substantial throughout the year. More than 5.2 million individuals returned to Afghanistan from neighboring Iran and Pakistan between January and the end of November 2025, including over 1.3 million deportees, the report added.

About 804,830 returned from Pakistan, according to data compiled by humanitarian partners and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Aid agencies said significant numbers crossed at key border points such as Islam Qala in Herat and Milak–Zaranj in Nimroz, often arriving with few belongings. The peak in returns occurred mid-year, driven in part by the expiry of temporary residency arrangements and intensified policing, with tens of thousands reported to be crossing daily during earlier phases. Although daily crossings declined after the mid-year peak, returns continued at scale into late 2025.

In December 2025, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said those Afghan refugees returning from Iran often have more education, better food security, and housing than those returning from Pakistan.

UNHCR’s “Afghanistan post-return monitoring survey report” released on December 30, 2025, highlighted different challenges for Afghan returnees from Iran versus Pakistan.

Those from Iran often have more education, better food security, and housing, while returnees from Pakistan face severe economic hardship, relying more on daily wages and carrying heavier debt burdens, according to the report.

Returnees from Iran were slightly less likely to hold debt than those from Pakistan, while differences between female-headed (90 percent) and male-headed (87 percent) households were minimal.

Returnees from Pakistan, particularly recent arrivals, are more likely to rent housing and struggle to afford rent, whereas returnees from Iran more often own or inherit their homes. Access to safe water and sanitation is also more limited for returnees from Pakistan. On December 29, 2,827 Afghan migrants were repatriated from Iran and Pakistan.

Over the past four decades, Iran has been one of the top countries hosting the largest number of refugees and migrants, despite many challenges facing the country. The majority of these refugees are from Afghanistan who have fled from their home country due to wars, insecurity, poverty, and crises.

Global investment essential for sustainable return of refugees

Addressing the 116th Session of the Council of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Iran’s UN envoy to Geneva, Ali Bahreini,  called for the international community’s investment in infrastructure, employment, education, and other services to improve conditions in Afghanistan for the sustainable return of refugees to their home countries.

“Forced displacement has increased due to conflicts and increasing global instability,” said the official.

However, “the severe pressure on host communities and the lack of international aid have made it impossible for this situation to continue indefinitely,” Bahreini made the remarks in reference to Iran’s generous hosting of millions of Afghan citizens for more than four decades, despite unlawful sanctions, IRNA reported.

Highlighting that “Iran reserves its sovereign right to return unauthorized nationals,” the representative also urged senior IOM officials to pay a visit to Iran’s border areas to get first-hand information and find real common solutions.

The latest global migration developments, as well as policies and cooperation for effective management of international migration, were discussed in the IOM meeting.

MT/MG