Pakistan - Flow Monitoring of Undocumented Afghan Returnees from Pakistan (October - December 2021)

IOM Pakistan collects data on the outflows of undocumented Afghan migrants at the Torkham and Chaman border crossing points in an effort to better understand the migration movements of undocumented Afghan migrants returning to Afghanistan from Pakistan. This report is part of the European Union funded project ‘‘Displacement Tracking Matrix Regional Evidence for Migration Analysis and Policy (DTM REMAP)”. Key findings during this reporting period are:

- From October to December 2021, 16,398 undocumented Afghan migrants spontaneously returned to Afghanistan, including 2,874 through the Torkham border point and 13,524 through the Chaman border point.

- Among the total number of undocumented Afghan returnees, border authorities facilitated the return of 72 individuals due to the lack of legal documentation to remain in Pakistan. Therefore, information concerning these 72 individuals is not included in the report analysis.

- The average family size of returnees was 10 individuals and 12% of all returnees recorded during the reporting period were categorized as vulnerable persons.

- All returnees were carrying household items, personal belongings and cash when surveyed. They also travelled with additional items, such as productive assets (99%), transportation vehicles (28%) and livestock (3%).

- The top 3 challenges returnees expected to face in Afghanistan were: arranging livelihood, settling into a new city and finding better income opportunities.