Countries: Afghanistan, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Pakistan Source: Save the Children KABUL, 11 August 2025 – About one child is returning to Afghanistan from Iran or Pakistan every 30 seconds, on average, at a time when nearly half the Afghan population already requires assistance, according to an analysis by Save the Children.Afghanistan is grappling with a new migration crisis four years after the Taliban’s return to power triggered a mass exodus of Afghans to neighbouring countries.An analysis of International Organization for Migration (IOM) data found more than 800,000 children have crossed into Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan this year, with about three out of four children returning from Iran. This is double last year’s total when both countries set deadlines for undocumented migrants and refugees to leave.Most children are crossing into Afghanistan, including thousands without parents or guardians, bringing only what they can carry. Many are strangers in their homeland, either born in neighbouring countries or spending years as refugees or migrants.Save the Children has seen huge groups of families living in parks and open spaces in major cities in Afghanistan.Omid*, 12, was forced to leave Pakistan and move to Afghanistan with his nine brothers and sisters. Save the Children is supporting the family at a transit centre.“I was at the madrasa (a religious school) when my father rushed in and said we had to leave,” said Omid. “We packed fast and got in a big truck with others. It was hot. We had no food or water. I want us to find a house, go to school, and live a good life again. I want to feel safe and make something of myself.”Omid’s father, Feroz*, told Save the Children that the family left Pakistan “with empty hands and broken hearts” and currently does not have a home, a job or any way to support his family:“We Afghans are always on the move. But I did not want this life for my children. We lost our home, our books, even our family photos. We only took what we could carry, mostly clothes and important documents. The rest, we had to leave. It was like fleeing a fire.”Even before the surge of people returning to Afghanistan, nearly half the population required humanitarian assistance and one in five children was facing crisis levels of hunger.At the same time, Afghanistan is also struggling with mass internal displacement, with many children forced from their homes due to climate-fueled events. Severe drought in Afghanistan’s northern provinces is leading to crops withering and dwindling water supplies for people and their livestock.Samira Sayed Rahman, Advocacy Director at Save the Children in Afghanistan, said:“The scale and pace of people returning to Afghanistan right now is completely unprecedented. We are on the brink of a full-scale humanitarian crisis like we’ve never seen before. About every 30 seconds, one child returns or has been forced to return to Afghanistan. That is the equivalent of about a classroom full of children every 15 minutes.“Many of these children are exhausted, terrified, and unsure how they will survive in a country already grappling with severe hunger and poverty over the past four years. Thousands of children are returning alone, without family or access to basic services.“The fallout from massive aid cuts this year has left humanitarian teams overwhelmed by the sheer volume of need. The crisis is severely under resourced, underfunded, and overlooked. And it is children who will be paying the heaviest price.”With increasing strain on resources due to aid cuts this year, Afghanistan faces heightened challenges in providing essential services, particularly for vulnerable populations like returnees, host communities, and children.Save the Children is calling on countries in the region to ensure that returns to Afghanistan are voluntary, safe, and dignified. Forcing or pressuring children to return, especially those without guardians, can heighten their risk of exploitation, abuse, and neglect.The child rights organisation is also calling on the international community to urgently increase funding to meet both critical needs at the border upon arrival and provide longer-term assistance to help returnees settle in Afghanistan.Since March, Save the Children in Afghanistan has supported more than 150,000 child who have returned to Afghanistan. Save the Children’s response is being expanded to include a health and nutrition clinic and multi-purpose cash assistance at the border, child protection services at the transit centre and health services in areas that people are returning to in Herat.ENDS*names changed to protect identitySave the Children has been supporting communities and protecting children's rights across Afghanistan since 1976, including during periods of conflict and natural disasters. We have programmes in 10 provinces and work with partners in an additional 11 provinces. Since August 2021, we've scaled up our response to support the increasing number of children in need. We deliver services spanning health, nutrition, education, child protection, shelter, water, sanitation, hygiene and livelihoods.· Multimedia content is available for this release: https://www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2STP8258Notes to Editor:Calculations based on IOM data broken down by age on arrivals from Iran and Pakistan at crossing points in Afghanistan. Data for Iran and Pakistan covers until 31 July 2025. Rates of children crossing per minute were calculated by dividing the number of children who have returned to each country by the number of minutes in the relevant time period for the country, then adding this up across the two countries.Iran-Afghanistan - Returns Emergency Response #15 - Afghanistan | ReliefWebAfghanistan has the largest internally displaced population in South Asia – about 5.5 million people, including around 2.7 million children. In 2024, floods triggered more than a million displacements of people, the highest disaster displacement figure on record in Afghanistan. https://www.internal-displacement.org/countries/afghanistan/Afghanistan: Impact of US Funding Suspension on the Humanitarian Response (As of 19 May 2025) | OCHA