Triple Crisis Looms for Afghanistan: Child Malnutrition, Mass Deportations, and Dire Human Rights

Triple Crisis Looms for Afghanistan: Child Malnutrition, Mass Deportations, and Dire Human Rights
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Afghanistan faces a compounding humanitarian crisis as over half its children suffer severe food poverty, while forced returns of Afghans from neighboring countries escalate amidst grave human rights concerns, multiple local sources reported.

UNICEF reports that over 50% of Afghan children under five experience severe food poverty, contributing significantly to a widespread malnutrition crisis. This alarming statistic, linked to economic hardship and drought, prompted UNICEF to launch a new program providing nutritional support and health service strengthening. Without intervention, long-term health and development of children are at severe risk.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed on July 18 that Proof of Registration (POR) cards for Afghan refugees will not be renewed, and deported individuals will be blacklisted from re-entering. This comes as UN human rights experts, including Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett, condemned the “staggering” scale of forced returns from Iran and Pakistan. They reported that over 1.9 million Afghans have been forcibly returned in 2025 alone, with more than 1.5 million from Iran and over 300,000 from Pakistan. Since June 24, at least 410,000 Afghans, many unaccompanied children, have been deported from Iran.

The UN experts warned that Afghanistan remains unsafe, nearly four years after the Taliban takeover, with returnees facing persecution, violent reprisals, and severe hardship, particularly for women, girls, and minorities. They emphasized that many deportations violate the international principle of non-refoulement, urging an immediate halt to forced returns and increased international support for resettlement and humanitarian assistance.