Returning Afghans face growing risk of trafficking as crises deepen

Escalating Perils for Afghan Returnees Amid Compounding Crises

Provpnmatrix.com – The United Nations has issued a warning that individuals returning to Afghanistan from neighboring nations are encountering mounting dangers of human trafficking and exploitation. This worsening situation stems from multiple overlapping humanitarian and economic emergencies that have left countless families struggling to maintain their livelihoods. According to reports released on Thursday, the convergence of several critical factors is creating an environment where vulnerable populations face heightened risks of abuse.

Multiple Forces Driving Vulnerability

International agencies have documented that substantial waves of returnees arriving from both Iran and Pakistan, coupled with diminishing humanitarian assistance programs, are placing enormous pressure on communities. Additional compounding challenges include the deterioration of the rural economy traditionally based on opium cultivation, severe climate-related disasters, and persistent limitations on the rights and freedoms of women and girls within Afghan society. Together, these elements are significantly increasing susceptibility to trafficking networks and various forms of mistreatment.

Recent comprehensive findings published by the International Organization for Migration’s Returnee Resilience Overview provide a particularly sobering assessment of the difficulties confronting those who have come back home. The data reveals that merely eleven percent of surveyed Afghans reported being fully employed or operating their own business ventures. Furthermore, more than half—specifically fifty-six percent—of returnee households indicated they lacked sufficient resources to meet their fundamental living costs.

Debt and Exploitation Cycle

Nearly fifty percent of respondents stated they depend on borrowing money or receiving charitable donations simply to get by. This financial precariousness exposes many individuals to exploitative employment arrangements, debt bondage situations, and additional forms of mistreatment. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime alongside the IOM have cautioned that victims continue experiencing forced labor conditions, sexual exploitation, slavery-like practices, and in certain instances, the removal of organs for commercial purposes.

Women, children, returnees, and households burdened by debt remain among the populations most susceptible to exploitation. Many find themselves working in domestic service, agricultural production, mining operations, brick manufacturing, and carpet weaving industries. Others endure forced begging, compelled marriages, child recruitment into various roles, and sexual exploitation. The UN has also drawn attention to the expanding worldwide threat of trafficking for forced criminality, where victims are coerced into participating in online deception schemes and fraud activities through threats, violence, and intimidation tactics.

“Scamming operations defraud millions of people, generating vast illicit profits for transnational organized crime. Powerful new technologies, including artificial intelligence, are helping the fraudsters spread at an alarming speed,” said Secretary-General António Guterres, marking Thursday’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

Capacity and Solutions

Mihyung Park, the IOM Afghanistan Chief of Mission, emphasized that the current volume of returns exceeds what Afghan communities can accommodate without substantial international backing. Without adequate access to employment opportunities, housing, and essential services, numerous individuals may be compelled to utilize hazardous migration corridors, thereby heightening their exposure to trafficking, exploitation, and abuse.

Polleak Ok Serei, the UNODC Country Representative, cautioned that the combination of mass returns, reductions in aid, natural disasters, and the loss of livelihoods underscores the pressing necessity to enhance prevention initiatives. The participating agencies have advocated for strengthened regional collaboration to dismantle trafficking networks, expanded assistance for survivors, improved access to civil documentation and livelihood opportunities, and the establishment of safer migration pathways.

“Human trafficking in all its forms is a gross violation of human rights. By working together, we can end this exploitation once and for all,” Mr. Guterres said.