IOM Afghanistan- Undocumented Afghan Returnees by Nicholas Bishop
During the first six months of 2016, only 7,804 registered Afghans returned and 33,892 undocumented Afghans spontaneously returned or were deported. This trend was reversed following Eid celebrations in late June and again in mid- September, when the return of registered refugees and undocumented Afghans skyrocketed: in July, August and September, over 160,000 registered Afghan refugees and more than 110,000 undocumented Afghans returned from Pakistan. IOM is the lead agency providing post-arrival humanitarian assistance to undocumented Afghan returnees and is reaching an average of 20% of returnees each week at the Torkham border in Nangahar.
The skyrocketing returns from Pakistan, with a population of as many as 3 million Afghans, will magnify already strained services and the labour market in districts of highest return and could easily result in returnees settling permanently in informal squatter settlements in already overstretched major urban centers presenting a host of challenges both obvious and unanticipated. This will also require a strengthening of services and concrete plans for the identification and provision of assistance to potential beneficiaries among a growing population of urban poor.
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