Nearly 17,000 Afghan refugees return home from Pakistan, Iran in 4 days

KABUL -- A total of 3,172 Afghan families with 16,764 members returned to their homeland from neighboring Iran and Pakistan within the past four days, Afghanistan's High Commission for Addressing Returnees Problems said on Saturday.

The immigrants have come home via the Torkham border crossing in eastern Nangarhar province, the Spin Boldak border crossing in southern Kandahar province, the Islam Qala border crossing in western Herat province, the Abrisham border crossing in western Nimroz province and the Bahramcha border crossing in southern Helmand province, it said.

The commission provides temporary shelters, food, water, medical care, and transportation services to their respective provinces for the returnees.

Nearly 120,000 Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland from Pakistan from April 1 to 24, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on Thursday.

About 7 million Afghan refugees, most of whom are undocumented migrants, are currently living abroad, with most living in neighboring Pakistan and Iran.

Recently, Pakistan and Iran have asked those undocumented Afghans to return to their home country.