Afghan Returnees Risk Radicalization Without Support, UN Warns

The international community must support millions of Afghans returning from Iran and Pakistan or face escalating radicalization and security risks, the head of the UN refugee agency warned.

"With these returnees, you have literally hundreds of thousands of young people who are essentially without jobs," said Barham Salih, the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees, in an interview with AFP during a visit to Kabul. "These people should be helped to reintegrate back into their communities, hopefully with meaningful jobs that can make them self-reliant."

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With these returnees, you have literally hundreds of thousands of young people who are essentially without jobs. These people should be helped to reintegrate back into their communities, hopefully with meaningful jobs that can make them self-reliant.

Salih cautioned that the alternative to reintegration and employment is "radicalisation; the alternative is social problems, security problems." He noted that "contemporary history tells us problems in Afghanistan do not stay here. It goes to the neighbourhood and far beyond as well."

More than six million Afghans have been forced to return from Pakistan and Iran since September 2023, following tightened migration policies in those host countries. The UN describes this as one of the largest repatriation movements globally, with an additional two million Afghans expected to be repatriated this year.

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The alternative is radicalisation; the alternative is social problems, security problems, and contemporary history tells us problems in Afghanistan do not stay here. It goes to the neighbourhood and far beyond as well.