Around 8mn Afghan migrants have returned to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan over the past five years, the Taliban government's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation said, in a meeting with foreign reporters on August 23. 

The five-year-old Taliban administration in Kabul has faced an unprecedented wave of forced returnees from Iran and Pakistan in recent years, with millions being forcibly ejected in several rounds as both neighbours continue to face significant economic stresses of their own and continued fears of Afghans being used by foreign powers against their respective governments in potential attacks. Other countries have also stepped up efforts to kick out Afghans in recent months with EU countries including Germany now returning failed asylum seekers. 

The scale of the influx presents a significant challenge for the Taliban administration, which remains unrecognised by the international community five years after taking power and is already grappling with severe humanitarian crises at home, including limited housing, land and services for returnees.

"Nearly 8mn migrants have returned to Afghanistan in this short period. Eight million. Distributing registration numbers and settlement to these people is not an easy task; be patient, be patient," Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Abdul Kabir said at a gathering of returnees in Paktia province, cited by BBC Afghan service.

Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesperson for the Taliban and an official on the high commission handling returnee affairs, told the BBC that between 2,000 and 3,000 Afghans are still being deported daily from Iran and Pakistan. 

Previous IntelliNews reports suggest that Tehran has continued with its policy of returning Afghans from cities across the country despite many of them living in the country for more than 30 years as far back as the Soviet invasion of the country. 

Taliban sees potential in returning nationals

Despite the humanitarian turmoil for the Taliban administration, the new government is pushing to boost its business credentials with returnees and foreign investors, which it sees as the route out of economic troubles. 

In a second interview, Fitrat added that some 81 Afghan businessmen and industrialists have returned to Afghanistan since August 2024, investing a combined $68mn in the country, according to Shahrara on August 23.

Fitrat said the investments had created 4,661 direct jobs as part of the push to reintegrate the masses of nationals who were forced home by the neighbouring states, many of whom have businesses and homes in Iran and Pakistan.

Of the returning investors, one was classified as a top-tier businessman or industrialist, 74 as mid-tier and 14 as lower-tier, Fitrat said. They have been allocated a combined 288 jeribs of land, equivalent to 57.6 hectares, across industrial parks in Kabul and several provinces.

Fitrat said the cases of 15 further businessmen and industrialists were being finalised, after which they would receive the incentives and facilities on offer once administrative procedures were complete.

The Taliban announced a package of incentives last year to encourage Afghan businessmen and industrialists abroad to return and invest, including land in industrial parks and a five-year tax exemption for certain industrial investments.

Economic deputy to the Taliban prime minister, Abdul Ghani Baradar, had previously said that investment in new industries could be exempt from tax for five years, excluding staff income tax.

The latest incentive package announced by the Taliban includes free land in industrial parks, tax exemptions on industrial equipment and machinery and production activities, customs exemptions on the import of two vehicles, and housing support for qualifying investors.