Afghan refugees return from Pakistan and Iran are putting heavy strain on jobs, housing, and water in northern Afghanistan, where locals and newcomers say work is scarce and rents have climbed sharply. More than six million people have come back in a little over three years as neighbouring states stepped up deportations after decades of hosting Afghans who fled conflict.
In Sheberghan, the capital of Jawzjan province, day labourers gather by the roadside hoping for hire. Ghulam Sakhi Barat, 83, supports seven relatives and said hunger has grown with the influx. He argued that aid has favoured returnees while long-time residents have been left without help, and that fewer jobs remain for people who were already there.
Jobs, schools, and a crowded labour market
Abdul Qader Hotak, 60, went back to Jawzjan after about twenty years in Pakistan even though his family holds no land or property there. Eight months after deportation, he said his children—who once attended school in Pakistan—now collect rubbish to earn money.
Faqir Mohammad Khudabakhsh, a 54-year-old mason who spent two decades moving between Afghanistan and Iran, said he can find work only about three days a week. Surrounded by other labourers in Sheberghan, he described returnees needing both homes and jobs and often finding neither. Money that might have bought food or clothes, he said, goes on rent, and he spoke of malnutrition among people already under strain.
Housing, water, and official assurances
Competition for shelter is intense. Residents have reported rents rising by as much as 150 percent in recent years. A 30-year-old civil servant who gave only the name Ahmadi said his rent had doubled in eighteen months and that economic hardship had deepened since returnees arrived. He said he had never heard of a provincial rent-control committee.
At the provincial information directorate, director Saifuddin Muhtasem said there were “no unresolved issues” for locals or returnees and claimed Afghanistan has no unemployed people except those unwilling to work. He said a nationwide committee exists to curb rent hikes. He also urged international organisations to build homes for returnees, saying people are in dire need of shelter even if they are not dying of hunger or thirst.
In drought-hit Aqcha, the United Nations projects the population could surge by more than 26 percent because of mass returns, with water described as a critical flashpoint. Most of Jawzjan’s water is unfit for drinking or farming, Muhtasem said, while a canal project is expected to take another two years.
UN warning and what comes next
UN data put nearly one in three Afghans—15.9 million people—at crisis-level food insecurity or worse. In September, Georgette Gagnon, deputy special representative of the UN mission in Afghanistan, said sustained support is vital for returnees and host communities, warning that competition over scarce resources risks fuelling grievances, more displacement, and instability.
How Afghan refugees return from Pakistan continue to settle—and whether jobs, rents, and water improve—will shape daily life far beyond the border crossings that sent them home.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Past three-plus years: More than six million Afghans return from Iran and Pakistan amid deportation drives.
- Recent years: Residents report rents rising by as much as 150 percent.
- Past 18 months: A Jawzjan civil servant says his rent has doubled.
- About eight months ago: Abdul Qader Hotak is deported from Pakistan and returns to Jawzjan without land or property.
- September: A UN mission official warns that competition over scarce resources risks grievances, displacement, and instability.
- Next two years (expected): A canal project meant to ease Jawzjan’s water crisis is still unfinished.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Lakhon Afghan Pakistan aur Iran se wapas aa chuke hain. Jawzjan mein rozgar kam hai aur kiraye bohat barh gaye hain. Jo log pehle se rehte the, unhein bhi mehngai aur pani ki kami ka samna hai. Wapas aane walon aur local logon donon ko kaam aur makan ki sakht zarurat hai.
