Afghans returning from neighboring countries face escalating risks of human trafficking and exploitation due to overlapping humanitarian and economic crises, the United Nations warned on Thursday, July 30th, 2026.

Mass returns from Iran and Pakistan, coupled with shrinking humanitarian assistance, the collapse of the rural opium-based economy, climate disasters, and ongoing restrictions on the rights of women and girls, have heightened vulnerabilities to trafficking and abuse.

According to recent findings from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in its Returnee Resilience Overview, only 11% of Afghans surveyed were fully employed or owned a business. Meanwhile, 56% of returnee households reported being unable to cover basic living expenses, and nearly half rely on loans or donations to survive. This economic precarity leaves many susceptible to exploitative labor practices, debt bondage, and other abuses.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and IOM have warned that victims continue to suffer forced labor, sexual exploitation, slavery-like practices, and in some cases, organ removal. Women, children, returnees, and indebted households are among the most at-risk groups. Exploitation occurs in sectors such as domestic work, agriculture, mining, brickmaking, and carpet weaving, with additional risks including forced begging, forced marriage, child recruitment, and sexual exploitation.

Marking Thursday’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted that “powerful new technologies, including artificial intelligence, are helping the fraudsters spread at an alarming speed.”

IOM Afghanistan Chief of Mission Mihyung Park emphasized the scale of the challenge, stating, “The scale of returns currently taking place is greater than what Afghan communities can absorb without significant international support.”

Sources