Afghan families ordered to leave Iran now need urgent food and shelter

Thousands of Afghan families forced to leave Iran are now stuck in desperate conditions in western Afghanistan, a new Islamic Relief assessment finds. Most families need urgent food and shelter, but the scale of the influx is already overwhelming local services in Afghanistan, with almost half a million people arriving in just over a month and 35,000 more people now arriving daily.

Iran’s decision to expel all undocumented Afghan refugees, and the conflict between Israel and Iran, has seen over 450,000 Afghans return from Iran since 1 June. The UN says most have been forcibly deported, including many women and children.

Ibrahim Ahmed Almohamdi, Islamic Relief’s Head of Programmes in Afghanistan, says:

“We’re now seeing around 35,000 people crossing from Iran every day, with rising numbers of women and children among them. Services here in Afghanistan are completely overwhelmed. Most people arrive with nothing and are utterly exhausted and distressed. Many families have no shelter so they’re sleeping out in the open during the cold nights, then spending their days without protection from the scorching sun. They don’t have cash to buy food or clothes, or pay for transport to get to other parts of the country. New arrivals urgently need food, water, cash and shelter.” 

The influx comes while the humanitarian response in Afghanistan is facing massive funding cuts, and is also struggling to respond to another influx of Afghans returning from Pakistan into eastern Afghanistan. In total around 1.4 million Afghans have returned to the country since January – many of them not by choice, and many after spending years abroad with no jobs, money or local support networks to return to.

A new Islamic Relief assessment of the most recent arrivals from Iran has found many feel uncertain or unsafe about returning. The rapid assessment surveyed 81 women and men who recently arrived in Herat province in western Afghanistan, and found:

• 100% need items such as blankets, kitchen utensils and clothing
• 85% don’t have money for transport to leave the border sites
• 83% have no access to health facilities
• 68% need tents and tarpaulin for shelter
• 94% need access to hygiene kits and latrines
• 72% don’t have adequate food
• 97% don’t know how to access assistance, or lack the documentation to do so

Islamic Relief is stepping up its response to provide new arrivals with food, water, cash and tents, and establishing help desks so that people can access information about services and transportation. Islamic Relief also continues to provide aid to returnees arriving in the east of the country from Pakistan.

Ibrahim Ahmed Almohamdi says Afghanistan needs much more support to cope with the returnees: “The influx of so many Afghans having to return from Iran and Pakistan has put huge strain on essential services that were already stretched to capacity. As global humanitarian funding is slashed, many vulnerable people are being left without even basic aid.”

More than halfway through the year, the UN-led 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Afghanistan has received just 22% of the funding it requires, even before the latest influx of people.