Afghanistan emergency
Afghanistan emergency
Following decades of conflict, millions of people in Afghanistan are experiencing abject poverty and hunger amid economic collapse, recurrent natural disasters, and the widespread curtailing of human rights, particularly for women and girls.
UNHCR and partners, including local NGOs, are responding to deliver vital humanitarian relief to returning refugees and displaced people inside Afghanistan, and to Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers living in five neighbouring countries.
Countries affected: Afghanistan | Islamic Republic of Iran | Pakistan | Tajikistan | Turkmenistan | Uzbekistan
people in Afghanistan in need of vital humanitarian relief
people internally displaced by conflict in Afghanistan
Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers are registered in neighbouring countries
Are you a refugee, asylum-seeker or stateless person looking for help? Visit the HELP site to find support and services from UNHCR.
Afghanistan is experiencing a humanitarian crisis and protracted displacement
Although new conflict-related displacement has reduced in recent years, Afghanistan is grappling with one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. Nearly half the population needs humanitarian assistance, the health care system is collapsing, increasingly extreme weather is exacerbating poverty and food insecurity, and women and girls have limited access to fundamental human rights, including the right to be educated and to work. A morality law introduced by the de facto authorities in 2024 brought in further restrictions on personal conduct, movements and dress.
Afghans constitute one of the largest refugee populations worldwide, with almost 90 per cent hosted in Iran and Pakistan, but both countries have seen growing negative sentiment towards Afghans amid economic downturns. Between September 2023 and late June 2025, more than 1 million Afghans have returned to their country from Pakistan, most of them after an announcement by the Government of Pakistan that it would deport undocumented foreign nationals living in the country. A further 1 million have returned from Iran in the first half of 2025, the majority since the Government of Iran began implementing a March 2025 return deadline. Returns from Iran intensified in June as thousands of Afghans fled the escalation in conflict with Israel. The abrupt return of more than 2 million Afghans has further compounded the humanitarian crisis and placed an undue burden on already limited resources in vulnerable communities.
Protracted crisis: UNHCR may designate some situations as protracted crises. This is an informal classification that indicates a long-term crisis with widespread and deepening humanitarian needs. Afghanistan falls into this category. Learn more about UNHCR emergency classifications.
They told us to leave urgently. All our belongings were left behind; everything was lost. We now have nothing.
What is UNHCR doing to help?
UNHCR is committed to staying and delivering in Afghanistan to protect the most vulnerable and assist Afghans with life-saving protection services, shelter, core relief items, cash assistance, community-based programmes, and psychosocial support.
We also support livelihoods and training programmes in areas with high numbers of returning refugees and internally displaced people, to encourage self-reliance and social cohesion.
To support refugees returning from neighbouring countries, UNHCR also provides legal counselling and assistance to help people with civil documentation so they can access vital services including health care, education, cash grants and shelter assistance.
UNHCR provides targeted winter assistance, including blankets, stoves, insulation kits and support for heating, as well as emergency assistance in response to disasters such as the floods that struck large parts of the country in May and July 2024.
More humanitarian aid is urgently needed to protect and assist Afghans forced to flee.
