More than 11 million Afghans have been displaced or have returned to the country between 2021 and 2025, as drought, floods and mass returns from neighbouring states deepen an already fragile humanitarian crisis, according to a new report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
“Environmental hazards continued to exacerbate existing vulnerabilities in 2025,” the IOM said, noting that 79% of displacements in early 2025 were linked to climate- and disaster-related events.
Drought remains the dominant driver of internal displacement. Among those displaced within Afghanistan in 2025, 42% fled because of drought, while floods and other disasters accounted for a further 10%. In Nimroz province, displaced people now make up 15% of the population.
At the same time, returns from neighbouring countries have surged. In 2025 alone, 2.7 million Afghans returned from abroad - nearly half of the total number of returnees recorded since 2021. The IOM attributed the increase to escalating deportations and insecurity in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan.
According to the agency’s flow monitoring data, 43% of those entering from Iran cited deportation as the reason for their return, while 47% of those arriving from Pakistan said they “felt unsafe in the host country”.
The strain is particularly visible in western Afghanistan. Herat province now hosts the country’s largest mobile population, with more than one million people either displaced or returned.
Climate impacts are also driving Afghans to leave. Between April and December 2025, 675,496 people departed because of climate-related livelihood losses, with 79% heading to Iran.
As one community member in Helmand told the IOM: “Before, farmers used river water, but now everyone drills their own wells… This has lowered the groundwater level and made the water problem worse every day.”
With drought affecting 89% of assessed communities, mobility in Afghanistan is no longer episodic - it has become structural.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Iran to pay compensation for decades of deaths and damage, adding a new demand to peace talks as Tehran see...
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 11th of August, covering the latest developments....
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia is preparing to deploy additional North Korean forces on its territory and has received...
Flights arriving at Catania airport in eastern Sicily were suspended after volcanic ash from a new eruption of Mount Etna drifted into the airspace around the airport, disrupting operations at one of Italy’s busiest aviation hubs.
One hundred years after the First World War and more than eighty years after the devastation of the Second World War gave rise to the United Nations, humanity once again finds itself living in an age of permanent crisis.
For months, efforts to secure the Red Sea have focused on what is happening in the water. Naval deployments have increased, governments have expanded maritime cooperation and shipping companies have adapted to persistent security threats.
Greenland has issued a “strong warning” to a U.S. oil company linked to President Donald Trump after drilling equipment was brought ashore without the required government approvals, according to British media.
A deal on a new route for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is "very close," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said, while warning that the reopening of the waterway depends on the U.S. meeting other conditions, including paying compensation to Iran.
Russia has welcomed what it describes as a shift in Georgia’s approach to the August 2008 war, praising statements that place responsibility for the conflict on former President Mikheil Saakashvili and his government.
Uzbekistan has secured preferential tariffs for fertiliser and petroleum product shipments through Kazakhstan’s Kuryk port to Georgian ports, as Uzbek cargo volumes across the Caspian continue to rise.
Police in eastern India used tear gas, batons and water cannon on Monday to disperse thousands of young protesters marching on the Jharkhand state legislature over alleged irregularities in civil service examinations.
Rising temperatures are threatening Georgia’s farms, energy supply and banking sector, with experts warning that the country has a narrow window to prepare before the economic costs grow significantly.
Pakistan is seeking to strengthen its energy security through a proposed Gulf oil storage scheme, $5 billion in refinery upgrades and renewed offshore exploration with Türkiye as global supply disruptions expose its reliance on imports.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment