ISLAMABAD: While Afghan returnees from Pakistan, particularly men, experience gradual economic improvements in income and employment over time, women face mounting barriers, deepening vulnerabilities, and worsening food insecurity, according to the latest post-return monitoring study carried out by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Released on Tuesday, the UNHCR study says the contrast reveals both the fragile progress in reintegration over time and the urgent need for targeted development interventions to ensure that no one is left behind.
The UNHCR study says fragile but positive progress in reintegration of returnees from Pakistan. The large-scale return of Afghans from Pakistan, and now from Iran, has marked a new chapter for thousands of families seeking to rebuild their lives amidst uncertainty. But returning home is only the beginning — the real challenge lies in achieving meaningful reintegration, securing livelihoods, and restoring dignity.
According to the report, income gains and widening gender gaps for men both wages and employment improve the longer they spend in their area of return, because they transition from reliance on humanitarian assistance to labour-based income, and those better positioned, typically men, benefit more from emerging opportunities.
Women excluded from gains
Over time, some economic indicators suggest cautious progress: employment rates for returnees rise by 16 percentage points within six months of their return, possibly driven by increased daily wage labor as returnees become better connected with the local community and better in accessing labour market information. Men, experience these gains, with wages in male-headed households increasing by 7pc on average and employment rising from 53pc to 69pc.
Germany to resume entry of vulnerable Afghans after pressure
Women are excluded from these gains, with their wages declining and employment rates dropping, reinforcing gender inequalities. For women-headed households, income outcomes worsened significantly. Six months after return, women’s wages decline by 23pc, and their employment rate drops from 42pc to 39pc. This widening gender gap leaves women earning nearly 17pc lower than men, while also facing barriers to essential services, legal rights, and safety.
Alarmingly, women are cut off from vital support, services, and economic opportunities in other significant ways that extend far beyond employment, such as access to documentation and a mobile phone. Only 25pc women have access to a mobile phone, compared to 95pc men.
Similarly, one in five women lacks national identity documents, compared to just 5 per cent of men.
At the household level, despite men’s rising employment, debt and food insecurity increases, indicating that the income gains are insufficient to meet growing needs, repay debts, or cope with rising costs. This rise in debt and food insecurity is particularly evident in woman-headed or vulnerable households.
Berlin to allow Afghans’ entry
Meanwhile, Germany is set to end its months-long halt on the entry of vulnerable Afghan nationals it had pledged to admit, following mounting legal pressure at home and a deportation push by Pakistani authorities, Welt newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Around 2,000 Afghans approved for relocation to Germany under a programme for those deemed at risk under Taliban rule have been stranded in Pakistan for months, after Berlin froze the scheme amid a pledge to curb migration, adds Reuters.
Rights groups and dozens of affected Afghans challenged the freeze in courts, with some winning rulings that increased pressure on Berlin to act.
The urgency grew further as Pakistan moved to expel documented Afghan refugees ahead of a Sept 1 deadline, including those registered in Germany’s relocation programme.
According to the newspaper, citing government sources, the Afghan families are expected to arrive in the coming days on regular commercial flights with stopovers in Dubai or Istanbul.
With input from Reuters
Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2025
