Afghanistan is facing a dramatic surge in returning children, with nearly one child returning to the country from Iran or Pakistan every 30 seconds on average, according to a statement released by Save the Children on Monday.

More than 800,000 children have returned to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan this year, double the number recorded in 2024. Around three-quarters of these children have returned from Iran, many of them born outside Afghanistan or having spent most of their lives in exile.

The child rights organisation warns that many of these children are arriving with little more than the clothes on their backs, some unaccompanied, and are effectively strangers in their own homeland.

“The scale and pace of people returning to Afghanistan right now is completely unprecedented,” said Samira Sayed Rahman, Advocacy Director at Save the Children in Afghanistan. “We are on the brink of a full-scale humanitarian crisis like we’ve never seen before.”

The crisis is further exacerbated by internal displacement, driven by worsening climate conditions, including severe drought in northern provinces that has devastated crops and water supplies. One in five Afghan children is now facing crisis levels of hunger.

At the same time, international aid cuts have severely impacted humanitarian operations, with agencies overwhelmed by the volume of need.

Save the Children urged regional governments to ensure all returns are voluntary, safe and dignified, particularly for unaccompanied children who are at heightened risk of exploitation and abuse. It also called on the international community to step up emergency funding — both for border support and long-term resettlement assistance.