Kabul, Afghanistan, April 29, 2026 — As governments around the world begin to ramp up the deportation of Afghan refugees, the IRC is warning people would be returning to a country where 40% of the population is gripped by hunger, displacement caused by climate change and conflict continues, while women and girls face systemic barriers to education, employment, and even healthcare.
In a troubling shift, Afghans are now at risk of being deported from countries that took them in when they departed from Afghanistan. Under pressure from EU member states to crack down on irregular migration, Afghans are among those being sent back despite the humanitarian crisis they face at home. Afghans deported now would return to a country unable to guarantee their safety, feed them, or provide the healthcare and livelihoods they need to survive, and an uptick in new arrivals would only further stretch the limited resources available. As of late 2025, over 22,000 Afghans have been ordered to leave the EU.
Meanwhile, according to IRC’s data monitoring in Italy, Afghanistan remains the main country of origin for people reaching Europe through the Balkan Route - only last year, the IRC’s teams assisted almost 900 unaccompanied Afghan children seeking protection in Europe. Overall in 2025, Afghans were the third top country for asylum applications in the EU.
“Since the beginning of our work at the Italy-Slovenia border in late 2021, supporting people arriving through the Balkan Route, we have met almost 30,000 Afghans on the move - one in four of them were children,” says Alessandro Papes, IRC’s Area Manager in Trieste, an Italian border city where people arriving in Europe often first seek support.
“What these people have to endure, both on the journey and even after reaching Europe, is unthinkable. Fleeing dire humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan, some report being exploited by smugglers, others are subjected to violence, threats and abuse. Even once they’ve arrived in Italy, many have no other choice but to sleep rough in inhumane conditions. We recently supported a young boy in accessing emergency shelter; he was terrified of spending the night outside.”
Meanwhile, cross-border tensions with neighbouring countries have deepened Afghanistan's humanitarian and displacement crisis, while the withdrawal of global humanitarian funding over the last 12 months has left millions without the support they depend on to survive. Afghanistan remains in the grip of a crisis that is sharply deteriorating as global funding for the humanitarian response has been withdrawn over the last 12 months. At least 17 million people are enduring food insecurity, including around 5 million in emergency levels of hunger and one step away from experiencing famine-like conditions. Consecutive years of drought and a sudden escalation in conflict have uprooted entire communities, forcing families to abandon their land in search of pasture and arable ground. In addition, major disasters including earthquakes and severe flooding have further strained available resources. The health system is failing, and critical infrastructure cannot cope with the volume of need.
Lisa Owen, IRC Afghanistan Director, said,
“Deporting Afghans back to a country where almost half of the population cannot feed themselves is not a migration policy; it is a decision that could cost lives. In Afghanistan, millions are starving, the health system is overwhelmed, and the humanitarian response is being dismantled at exactly the moment it is needed most.
“IRC teams who deliver health and nutrition services in some of Afghanistan’s remotest places have reported meeting families who are forced to skip meals because they do not have enough to eat, or send their children to work to earn an income.
“For Afghan families returning, coming back does not mean coming back to stability. Those who are set to return will be faced with extreme challenges, particularly women and girls who are especially vulnerable and continue to face obstacles in accessing education, employment, and even healthcare services. These realities should serve as a clear signal to the international community: now is the moment to scale up funding and engage with the situation in Afghanistan, not to step back and ignore a crisis unfolding on the world’s doorstep.”
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) began work in Afghanistan in 1988 and now works with thousands of villages across eight provinces. As Afghanistan struggles to recover from years of conflict and natural disasters, the IRC works with local communities to identify, plan and manage their own development projects, provides safe learning spaces in rural areas, basic health services to remote and hard to access communities, cash distribution provides uprooted families with tents, clean water, sanitation and other basic necessities, and helps people find livelihood opportunities.