From January 1 to July 19 of this year, 1,541,000 Afghans returned to the country, including 1,201,000 from Iran and 340,000 from Pakistan, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

In its report, the UN agency detailed that the pace of deportations from Iran has gradually decreased.

Some 460,000 Afghans returned from Iran between July 1 and 19, although a gradual decline in the number of daily returnees has been observed over the past 10 days, with around 9,000 Afghans arriving daily; the numbers are understood to have further decreased since then, the statement reflects.

According to OCHA, this trend is likely influenced by ongoing diplomatic talks between officials of Afghanistan’s de facto authority and the Iranian government.

For its part, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban government) reported that 11,605 people returned to the country the day before, of whom 1,811 were transferred to their respective provinces.

This comes as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, during a visit to Iran, called for an end to the forced deportations of Afghan migrants and proposed a trilateral meeting between Tehran, Kabul, and the UNHCR.

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