A record 6 million Afghan refugees have returned to their home country in under three years, the U.N.’s refugee agency, UNHCR, has said.
In a post on the social media platform X on Thursday, the agency said: “Returns of this scale have not been seen in recent history.” At the same time, it said it was essential to ensure that all returns are voluntary, safe and dignified.
UNHCR did not provide further details, but a large share of the returning refugees are believed to have come back to Afghanistan from neighboring Pakistan and Iran.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in June that more than 2.4 million Afghan nationals had returned to their country since Islamabad began a phased repatriation program in September 2023.
According to UNHCR figures, roughly 2.1 million Afghans have returned from Iran since the start of 2025.
After the Soviet Union launched its military intervention in Afghanistan in 1979, and during the decades of conflict and instability that followed, millions of Afghans took refuge in Pakistan.
According to the latest U.N. figures, more than 777,000 registered Afghan refugees remain in Pakistan. Beyond that, more than 1 million undocumented Afghan nationals are believed to be in the country.