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No place like home? Multisectoral support for forced returnees in Western Afghanistan

Multisectoral humanitarian support helps forced returnees from crisis to coping

Forced returnees loading belongings at zero point

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC), with financial support from the European Union, is delivering lifesaving, multisectoral humanitarian assistance to families and individuals forcibly returned to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan.

After often traumatic journeys to border points, returnees arrive into a country shaped by overlapping and deepening crises, creating severe barriers to rebuilding their lives. Integrated support is essential to help people meet immediate needs and reduce the risk of falling into extreme poverty and prolonged vulnerability.

Decades of insecurity, compounded by the slow onset impacts of climate change, have converged into an economic crisis, widespread food insecurity, water scarcity, and serious protection risks. Political and institutional constraints, alongside chronic underinvestment, have significantly constrained economic recovery.

In rural areas, small scale agriculture, often reliant on traditional practices, remains the primary source of livelihoods. However, production is increasingly fragile, while opportunities in urban areas are limited by weak labour markets, low purchasing power, and insufficient investment in job creation. As a result, many households depend on unstable daily labour, with high levels of unemployment and rising debt.

Nationwide, close to one in three young men aged 14 to 24 are unable to find work, with unemployment rates approximately twice as high among young women. Severe restrictions on women’s participation in public and economic life further constrain household income and broader recovery prospects.

Climate change and recurrent natural hazards are compounding these pressures, increasingly undermining agricultural productivity, food systems, and access to safe water. Following six consecutive years of poor rainfall, large parts of the country are experiencing worsening drought conditions, driving crop failure, livestock losses, and declining livelihoods.

These dynamics are contributing to deteriorating food security and an escalating nutrition crisis. Access to safe drinking water is also becoming increasingly constrained. The Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan notes that drought - when combined with economic decline and large-scale population returns - is likely to act as a catalyst for multi sector humanitarian emergencies in 2026.

It is into this context that forcibly returned Afghans are arriving. In 2025 alone, over 2.61 million Afghans were compelled to return, often without documentation, assets, or access to support networks. Many have lived for decades in Pakistan or Iran, or were born there, making “return” a complex experience.

Against this backdrop of intersecting crises, there is no single sector solution. Both returnees and host communities face interlinked vulnerabilities that require a holistic, integrated humanitarian response that simultaneously addresses basic needs, protection risks, and livelihoods, strengthening resilience and enabling pathways towards longer term self-reliance.

Zahra

Zahra lives in a small, rented house with her husband and six children, two daughters aged 17 and 16 and four sons aged 17, 14, 10 and 6. The shelter is overcrowded and in poor condition, with damp walls and no access to safe drinking water. Despite this, the rent is 6,000 AFN (around 93.50 USD) per month. With no stable income, the family has been unable to pay rent for the past two months.

Zahra is struggling to keep her children safe and fed following the distressing experience of being forced to leave Iran, where they had lived their entire lives. She is currently the only income earner in the household, earning around 50 AFN (around 0.80 USD) a day through irregular bean cleaning work. This income is insufficient to meet even basic food needs. Her husband is not currently able to work due to drug dependence, leaving the family without reliable support.

The family also lacks civil documentation, which prevents them from accessing essential services. Zahra is unable to obtain a SIM card, limiting her ability to seek help or information, and the children are not able to attend school.

In an effort to cope, Zahra has sold the few belongings they brought from Iran, but this has not been enough to cover rent or daily needs. The landlord has now threatened eviction and increased the rent, placing the family at immediate risk of losing their shelter. Zahra is living with constant fear of homelessness and hunger, with no safe space to turn to for support.

Although life in Iran was difficult too, living there without documents or identity, we all worked. But my son was arrested for being Afghan when he went to work, and we were forced to be deported. We were unable to bring all our belongings or settle our accounts. I returned to Afghanistan with a heart full of sadness, worry, and an uncertain future with my family. From the very beginning, my worries began at the border.

However, when Zahra connected with DRC via our community centre in Herat, things started to turn around.

Zahra received integrated, humanitarian, multisectoral support to address her immediate needs and strengthen her longer-term stability. With guidance and financial assistance, she obtained a Tazkira (national identity card), restoring her access to essential services. She is now also able to register a SIM card.

DRC also supported the family’s access to healthcare. Financial assistance for transportation and medical costs allowed them to seek care that had previously been out of reach. Through referrals to local partners, the family accessed additional essential basic services, ensuring a more comprehensive response to their needs.

Zahra also received targeted financial assistance, including cash for three months of rent, to repay her debts to her landlord. The family also received food assistance to help meet their basic needs during this period of recovery. “They supported us with cash for rent, and I received food assistance. Even the transportation costs were covered, which made it possible for me to come and follow up,” she explained.

In addition, Zahra received psychosocial support (PSS) to address the emotional toll of prolonged hardship. These counselling sessions provided a safe space for her to share her experiences and begin coping with ongoing stress.

I came to the center after receiving information about the available services. Before that, I did not know where to go or how to ask for help. At the center, a caseworker listened to me. In the PSS sessions, I could speak. I felt a little lighter. I am still worried, but I am not alone like before.

Zahra and her family are still facing challenges, but the humanitarian support they received helped pull them out of crisis. It meant they could move beyond constant survival and begin to focus on what comes next.

"I have skills in handicrafts. If I get the chance, I want to start a small business from home and support my family,” she said. She is also planning to send her children back to school, a step that matters deeply for their future."

Life is still uncertain, but it is no longer defined by emergency. That support helped Zahra regain her footing. Now, with determination and a clearer path ahead, she is starting to build something more stable for her family, step by step.

Qudratullah and Narges

When DRC first met Qudratullah and his wife, Narges, they were living with their two daughters, aged 5 and 7, in extremely poor conditions. After being forced to return from Iran, the family settled on abandoned land in Herat city, where they were living in a tent.

Although Qudratullah had managed to purchase a small plot of land on credit and begin building a home, construction had stalled due to lack of funds.

The family’s physical and mental health had been significantly affected by their return to Afghanistan which included mistreatment by Iranian authorities. Their situation was further worsened by their current living conditions, where they faced ongoing protection risks but lacked financial means to improve their circumstances

I feel that we have been forgotten. Even though we have returned to our own country, because we do not know anyone here in Herat and are unfamiliar with the environment, we will never be able to find proper work or shelter.

Qudratullah suffers from a chronic illness, while his wife is struggling with her

mental health. These conditions limit their ability to work and manage day-to-day life, including caring for their two young children. The family therefore rarely have enough money to even buy food, and when they do, it’s of low nutritional value.

To ensure the family could meet their most immediate needs and escape this period of crisis, DRC provided cash assistance so that the family could buy food. Next, they were supported to improve their shelter so it provided at least a minimum level of security and safety.

The family were effectively living in the open, relying on a tent that provided little protection from the elements and exposed them to significant safety risks. To address this, the family received financial support to complete the construction of their home. This ensured they could secure a safe place to live.

Alongside this, the family participated in explosive ordnance risk education. Afghanistan remains one of the most heavily contaminated countries in the world with landmines and other explosive hazards. Returnees are particularly at risk due to their unfamiliarity with their surroundings and their displacement to marginal or unsafe land. Children face heightened risks because of their limited awareness of these dangers, making education for the entire family essential to reduce the likelihood of injury or death.

Finally, DRC’s team worked with Qudratullah and Narges to raise awareness of risks and negative coping mechanisms, strengthening their capacity to safeguard their daughters.

This support has helped set the family on a path toward self-sufficiency. Once settled in their home, Qudratullah and Narges were able to establish a small but vital source of income. Using part of the assistance provided, Qudratullah’s wife purchased the utensils and ingredients needed to prepare bolani, a popular Afghan street food. Narges cooks at night, and Qudratullah sells the bolani during the day while she rests.

I now feel that our family is in a much better condition, and I have regained the self-confidence I had lost.

As a mother rebuilding her life in a new place, she now feels directly involved in supporting her family’s economic survival. In a context where women’s economic opportunities are often limited, she is now a vital part of income generation for her family.

Humanitarian, multi-sectoral support is essential. It does more than ease hardship; it helps pull families out of crisis. By ensuring people can meet their most basic needs, including food and shelter, and by reducing immediate risks such as eviction, it creates a critical shift in their situation.

When families are no longer trapped in constant stress and day-to-day survival, they gain the time, space and security needed to think ahead. From that position, they can begin to make decisions about how to meet their needs on their own, rebuild their lives, and move forward with greater stability. Humanitarian support remains vital to communities across Afghanistan, who without it, will remain stuck in cycles of poverty, unable to even begin thinking about longer term solutions.