Pakistan — Flow Monitoring of Undocumented Afghan Migrants: Summary Report 2021

This yearly summary report, in addition to bi-weekly and quarterly reports, aims to contribute to a better understanding of return movements of undocumented Afghan returnees by conducting more in-depth analysis on the data that was collected in 2021.

The analysis of the data indicates that the number of returnees has increased more than four times as compared to 2020. However, the number of returns in 2021 could have been higher especially if the Chaman border had not been closed due to security reasons in Afghanistan. Numbers of returns were six times higher in months when the border was open (November and December), compared to when the border was closed (October). In general, in 2021, the steep increase in return movements is attributed to the relaxation of border restrictions, even during different COVID-19 waves, which allowed people to more easily cross the border as compared to the previous year.