Pakistan — Flow Monitoring of Afghan Returnees – Bi-Weekly Report (1 – 15 JANUARY 2024)

IOM Pakistan collects data on the outflows of Afghan migrants at the Torkham and Chaman border crossing points to better understand the migration movements of Afghan migrants returning to Afghanistan from Pakistan.

Between 1st and 15th January 2024, IOM Pakistan reported 9,982 Afghan nationals returning to Afghanistan through various border crossing points (BCPs), including Torkham, Chaman, Ghulam Khan, and Badini. This movement follows Pakistan's enactment of the "Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan (IFRP)" on 26th September 2023. The data, harmonized with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), showed a 50% decrease in returns compared to late December 2023 and a significant drop since early November, which had the highest returns since mid-September 2023. Cumulatively, since 15th September 2023, 501,242 individuals have returned to Afghanistan, primarily due to fear of arrest and forced repatriation. Among these, 3% were identified as vulnerable persons, and the cost of travel was higher from the border to the destination point compared to the origin to the border.