The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has raised alarm over the ongoing mass deportations of Afghan refugees from Iran, warning that humanitarian agencies in Afghanistan are no longer able to cope with the growing number of returnees.

In a statement released Thursday, NRC Country Director in Afghanistan Jacopo Caridi said: “We are seeing families arrive exhausted and distressed to a country that has very limited capacity to support.”

Caridi stressed that Afghanistan currently lacks the infrastructure and resources to absorb and reintegrate such a large influx of returnees. “We are doing everything we can, but the scale of needs is exceeding the current resources,” he added.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 1.4 million Afghan migrants have returned from Iran since the beginning of 2024. The NRC warned that, if the current pace continues, more than 3 million Afghans could be forced back into the country by the end of 2025.

The organisation called for an immediate halt to forced returns, arguing that present conditions in Afghanistan “do not meet the minimum standards for safety or sustainability.”