In brief
The International Organization for Migration reports over 1.3 million Afghan returnees have arrived in 2026, adding to a cumulative 6.6 million displaced since 2023. Communities already under strain from limited housing and services face renewed challenges as winter approaches, prompting the IOM to call for urgent funding to supply shelter and winter supplies.
More than 1.3 million Afghans have returned from neighboring Iran and Pakistan so far in 2026, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday.
Since September 2023, the IOM has recorded more than 6.6 million returns, including 2.9 million in 2025 and the 1.3 million arrivals this year, the agency’s data shows.
These arrivals flood Afghan communities that already struggle to provide adequate housing and basic services to residents.
Families are returning to communities where housing and basic services are already under severe strain. Winter is now adding another urgent need.
—IOM’s Chief of Mission in Afghanistan, Mihyung Park
Park said the accelerating wave of returns is intensifying pressure on communities that have been stretched to the breaking point. He added that the IOM was calling for donors to close an 8.8 million U.S. dollar inter‑agency funding gap to deliver emergency shelter, winterization kits and essential household items before severe weather isolates vulnerable communities, internally displaced people and recent returnees.
Impact on Afghan Communities
The influx of returnees places a heavy burden on local infrastructure and resources. Families re‑entering towns and villages must contend with shortages of secure housing, limited access to utilities, and basic health and sanitation services that are already strained.
As temperatures drop, the IOM warns that winter can make remote or mountainous areas difficult to reach, jeopardizing the safety and survival of the newly arrived families.
Call for International Support
To address the emerging crisis, the IOM is urging international donors and aid agencies to provide funding that will enable the supply of emergency shelters, winter‑ready kits and other household essentials.
Closing the 8.8 million dollar gap is essential for preventing the isolation of vulnerable communities during the harsh months ahead.
With the ongoing wave of repatriation, Afghanistan’s already fragile social fabric faces new stresses that will require coordinated humanitarian action to safeguard the wellbeing of returnees and host communities alike.
