UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners are responding to the mass return of Afghans, even as funding is drastically reduced. Over 3 million Afghans have returned from neighbouring countries since September 2023.
This year alone, 780,000 are estimated to have returned, including 351,600 who were deported. They return to a homeland that is unprepared to receive them – a UNDP report found that three-quarters of the population lives at the subsistence level, and the UN estimates that half the population needs humanitarian assistance.
To date, UNHCR, other UN agencies, and the international community have played a key role as shock absorbers and stabilization partners. Providing returning refugees with cash grants has helped people to invest in their new lives by constructing a house or incubating small businesses. And once back in their home district, UNHCR has been able to support communities through interventions such as clinics, schools, housing , and job creation.
UNHCR has been a dependable partner and supporter of the Afghan people for 40 years. The organization has supported the governments that have hosted them, and they are with them as many make the journey back. The return of Afghans can be a source of stability, economic growth, and regional harmony – but only if it is voluntary and conducted in safety and dignity.
In light of the deeply troubling financial situation which they find that their support for Afghans is diminishing. The cash being provided to returnees at the border has been cut by a factor of seven. With the funding reductions, the current assistance packages can offer only the most basic humanitarian assistance – vital, but short-term and far from transformational. It can help someone survive, but not effectively rebuild.
The budget cuts are also inhibiting the ability to help those who take great personal risks to help the women and girls of Afghanistan – those who believe in their community and strive to create conditions for women to be educated, to work, or even just to enjoy leisure time in public.
UNHCR funds have helped these courageous actors to protect and safeguard valuable female-oriented projects. Dropping the assistance means abandoning these people who stand against draconian conditions. Even as many are forced to return to Afghanistan, others are preparing to leave the country again – for Iran, Türkiye, and Europe.
The international community has invested heavily in Afghanistan over the decades. At this difficult juncture, they still have an opportunity to support stability and economic growth. UNHCR calls upon neighbouring countries to pursue solutions, treat Afghans with dignity, and work regionally to foster safe, voluntary, dignified, and sustainable returns.
UNHCR appeals to the international community not to abandon its investments, to stay the course, and to provide political and financial support that will allow a dispersed people to return and build their futures. UNHCR requires $216 million to fund its response in Afghanistan this year, but has so far received just 25 per cent of that amount.
