A growing humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Afghanistan as hundreds of thousands of women and girls return from Iran and Pakistan, many with no resources, no shelter, and no access to essential services. A new report from UN Women, CARE International, and their partners warns that without urgent action, returnee women and girls face escalating risks of poverty, early marriage, harassment, and exploitation.
Since September 2023, more than 2.43 million undocumented Afghans have returned — many under forced repatriation orders. The report reveals that women and girls make up roughly one-third of all Afghan returnees from Iran in 2025 and about half of those arriving from Pakistan. For many, this is their first time setting foot in Afghanistan, a country they have never lived in but now must call home.
These returns come against the backdrop of Afghanistan’s deepening economic collapse, climate-related shocks, and the ongoing erosion of women’s rights under Taliban rule. Returnee women and girls face the same restrictions as all Afghan women, including bans on secondary education for girls, severe limitations on movement, and reduced access to jobs, healthcare, and public life.
“Vulnerable women and girls arriving with nothing into communities that are already stretched to breaking point puts them at even greater risk,” said Susan Ferguson, UN Women’s Special Representative in Afghanistan. “They are determined to rebuild with dignity, but we need more funding to provide the dedicated support they need and to ensure women humanitarian workers are there to reach them.”
The Afghanistan Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group, co-chaired by UN Women and CARE, outlines critical needs in its new assessment. Safe and affordable shelter, access to livelihoods, and girls’ education are the top priorities voiced by returnee women. The report notes that only 10 percent of women-headed households currently live in permanent shelters, and nearly 40 percent fear eviction. Single women and women-led households face the steepest barriers to humanitarian aid because of documentation gaps, safety concerns, and movement restrictions.
Girls’ education remains one of the most pressing issues. The nationwide ban on secondary schooling for girls has left many returnee children without any pathway to continue their studies, compounding the long-term risks of poverty and marginalization.
Humanitarian workers, especially women at border crossings, play a critical role in identifying and assisting vulnerable arrivals. Yet the report warns that their work is being hampered by shrinking aid budgets and the same movement restrictions faced by the women they are trying to help. “Witnessing the volume of arrivals and the hardship faced by women, children and families — many distressed, disoriented and without hope — has left a deep impact on all of us responding to this crisis,” said Graham Davison, CARE Afghanistan’s Country Director.
International aid agencies say the latest surge of returns threatens to overwhelm already fragile host communities. Funding cuts have left many humanitarian operations under-resourced, forcing aid workers to make difficult decisions about who receives assistance. At some border points, aid teams report being unable to meet even the most basic needs of the new arrivals.
Afghanistan remains one of the world’s most severe humanitarian emergencies, with decades of conflict, economic instability, and environmental disasters pushing millions into crisis. The report calls on the global community to act swiftly, both to protect the rights of Afghan women and girls and to support the female humanitarians working on the frontlines.
“The choice before us is stark,” Ferguson said. “Either we invest in these women and girls now, or we watch as they are pushed further into danger and deprivation.”
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