Over 4,000 Afghan refugees return home in a single day

More than 4,000 Afghan refugees returned to their homeland on Sunday (12/7), as the flow of Afghan nationals returning from neighbouring countries increases amid pressure on undocumented foreign nationals to leave their host countries. According to the Bakhtar News Agency, the official state news agency, 790 Afghan refugee families, comprising 4,100 individuals, returned to Afghanistan yesterday. Of that number, 772 families were transferred to their home provinces after receiving necessary assistance at border crossing points, while 18 other families are also set to be transferred to their home provinces shortly. Most of these refugees returned from Pakistan. Pakistan and Iran, two neighbouring countries that have hosted millions of Afghan refugees for decades, have requested undocumented foreign nationals to leave their territories. Previously, deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat reported the return of 76,181 Afghan refugees to the country in the past month, with the repatriation process still ongoing. Afghan officials state that over 8 million Afghan refugees have returned to the country since the current administration assumed power in August 2021.