Afghan returns from Pakistan top 600,000 as expulsions resume

Afghan returns from Pakistan topped 600,000 in 2026 as Islamabad resumed forced expulsions of Afghans whose legal status had expired and the United Nations warned that a larger movement could intensify humanitarian pressure in Afghanistan.

UNHCR’s newest weekly update was published August 3, 2026, and covers returns recorded from July 26 through August 1. Its broader situation dashboard recorded 1,019,400 total Afghan returns from all countries in 2026 through July 18. Pakistan accounted for 616,600 of those returns, compared with 401,600 from Iran.

The figures came as Pakistan declined to extend the legal stay of about 1.4 million Afghan Proof of Registration, or PoR, card holders. The Associated Press reported that a July 31 government notification requires Afghans with expired PoR cards to return if they lack valid passports and Pakistani visas.

Why the numbers need careful reading

UNHCR uses “total returns” as an umbrella category. It includes deportations, assisted voluntary repatriation and other returns involving Afghans with several documentation statuses, including PoR and Afghan Citizen Card holders, as well as undocumented Afghans. The category excludes people holding valid passports and visas.

That means the 616,600 returns from Pakistan should not be described as 616,600 deportations. UNHCR separately recorded 378,100 deportations to Afghanistan through July 20, including 61,100 from Pakistan and 315,800 from Iran.

The two totals also have different reporting dates. The cumulative total-returns figure was updated July 18, while the separate deportation total was updated July 20. The August 3 weekly update provides a newer operational view of returns from Pakistan and separates voluntary and forced returns by documentation status, age and gender.

Pakistan’s renewed enforcement

According to AP, the renewed operation affects approximately 1.4 million PoR card holders whose legal status expired at the end of June. AP also reported that about 800,000 Afghans hold Afghan Citizen Cards and that police in Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh say some of those people are living in Pakistan illegally and are being detained before possible deportation.

AP reported that two government and security officials, speaking anonymously, described police detentions and house-to-house checks targeting foreigners authorities consider to be in the country illegally. A Pakistani official described the returns as dignified. The Interior Ministry did not immediately comment to AP.

UNHCR criticized forced and hasty returns. The agency said sending people back in this manner could amount to refoulement, breach international obligations, jeopardize refugees’ lives and freedom, and create risks for stability in Afghanistan and the wider region. Those statements are UNHCR’s assessment; they do not establish that every return was involuntary or that every reported enforcement practice occurred nationwide.

The response Afghanistan is preparing for

The number already recorded is below the movement anticipated by the U.N.-led 2026 Response Plan for Afghan Returnees. Published May 19, the plan projects nearly 2.7 million returns from Pakistan and Iran between April and December 2026.

The plan identifies a funding requirement of $529.2 million. That is the amount the response plan says is needed, not money already committed or received. Planned assistance includes immediate support at border crossings and longer-term reintegration in 35 high-priority districts, covering protection, health, education, water and sanitation, livelihoods and housing.

For readers following the policy, the central question is not only how many Afghans cross the border. It is whether future movement will be voluntary and gradual or increasingly forced and rapid. That distinction affects family separation, access to services, protection screening and the ability of Afghan communities to absorb returnees.

Sources

• UNHCR Afghan Returns Weekly Update, July 26–August 1, 2026
• United Nations in Afghanistan: 2026 Response Plan for Afghan Returnees
• Associated Press: Pakistan resumes forced expulsions of 1.4 million Afghan refugees