A group of retired government employees in Kabul have once again staged a protest over non-payment of their pensions. During a gathering on Saturday, the demonstrators said they would continue their protests until their entitlements are paid.
One of the retirees, Abdul Hakim, said he and his peers are in urgent need of their pensions and should not be subjected to further hardship.
Over the past four years, Afghan retirees have repeatedly protested due to unpaid pensions. However, the Taliban authorities have instructed them to refer to special courts to validate their claims.
Following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, the pension payments for retired public servants were suspended and have yet to resume.
Retirees say the Taliban show no intention of restoring their pensions.
Zahra Behrouz, Iran’s Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, has stated that while the sense of brotherhood and sisterhood with Afghans remains strong, the Islamic Republic can no longer host Afghan migrants without legal documents.
She said that circumstances have arisen in which it is no longer possible to continue hosting undocumented migrants in Iran.
According to Behrouz, military forces, border police, governors’ offices, municipalities, and other provincial bodies are working at full capacity to expel undocumented Afghan nationals.
During a recent visit to the Dogharoun border crossing in Khorasan Razavi province, she acknowledged that the deportation of Afghan migrants has increased in recent days.
The Taliban’s Commission for Addressing Migrant Affairs has announced that on Saturday, a total of 20735 Afghan migrants returned to the country through various border crossings.
According to the report, the returns took place via Islam Qala in Herat, Pul-e Abrisham in Nimruz, Spin Boldak in Kandahar, Torkham, and Angur Ada along the border with Pakistan.
Islam Qala was reported as the busiest entry point, with 1925 families, totalling 11350 individuals, entering Afghanistan through that crossing alone.
At Pul-e Abrisham in Nimruz province, 1797 families returned, along with an additional 1480 individuals travelling independently.
From the Spin Boldak crossing in Kandahar, 26 families were reported to have returned, while 56 families entered via Torkham, and four families through the Angur Ada crossing in Paktika province.
The overall data indicates that 3808 migrant families, comprising 20735 individuals, returned to Afghanistan on that single day.
This surge comes amid an intensified wave of both forced and voluntary returns of Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan in recent weeks, raising concerns about the capacity of local authorities to respond to their urgent humanitarian needs.
The United Nations has previously warned that Afghanistan is not equipped to absorb such a large number of returnees, given the country’s fragile infrastructure and ongoing economic crisis.
Abdul Haq Akhund, Deputy Minister for Counter-Narcotics at the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior, has called on the United Nations to assist with alternative poppy cultivation and the treatment of drug addiction in Afghanistan.
According to a statement released by the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior on Sunday, Akhund made the request during a meeting in Kabul with officials from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The ministry said UNODC representatives pledged to support Afghan farmers in transitioning away from opium poppy cultivation and to provide assistance for drug rehabilitation programmes across the country.
The Taliban consider their anti-drug campaign a key achievement. However, neighbouring countries such as Iran and Tajikistan have repeatedly reported large quantities of narcotics being trafficked from Afghanistan into their territories.
Earlier this month, Tajikistan’s National Security Committee reported that four Afghan nationals attempting to smuggle 58 kilograms of opium and methamphetamine into the country were intercepted at the border. Two of them were killed by border forces, while the other two reportedly fled back into Afghanistan.
Despite the Taliban's formal ban on the cultivation, production, and sale of opium, which was announced in April 2022, multiple reports from within Afghanistan suggest that drug trafficking has not only persisted but become increasingly organised. Confessions from traffickers and accounts from local residents indicate that the narcotics trade continues to flourish under Taliban rule.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced that it has supported 80000 small businesses across Afghanistan since October 2021, with 97 percent of them led by women.
In a report released on Sunday, 14 July, the UNDP said its support efforts have created at least 400000 jobs and improved living conditions for an estimated 2.7 million people.
The agency also reported that it has delivered life-saving assistance and social support to 25 million Afghans during the same period, as part of its ongoing efforts to mitigate the effects of Afghanistan’s economic crisis.
Operating across all 34 provinces, the UNDP said its programmes focus on strengthening livelihoods and resilience by providing healthcare, education, support for small businesses, and other essential social services. The agency described its efforts as part of helping Afghans navigate “one of the most difficult periods in the country’s history.”
Despite these achievements, the UNDP warned that additional funding is urgently needed, stating it requires $350 million to continue its operations over the next two years.
In a separate report published in May, the UNDP noted that 90 percent of Afghan households had experienced economic shocks in 2024 due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis. It said 65 percent of families had been directly affected, marking a 35 precent increase compared to 2023.
Khairullah Khairkhwa, Taliban’s Minister of Information and Culture, has claimed that the group has fulfilled all conditions necessary for international recognition and urged other countries to follow Russia’s lead in recognising Taliban.
In an interview with the state-run Bakhtar News Agency, Khairkhwa said official recognition of the Taliban would have a positive impact on Afghanistan’s economy and help attract foreign investment.
He stressed that the international community must accept the reality, and added that security has been restored in Afghanistan, narcotics production has been halted, and corruption has been eradicated. According to the minister, these achievements are significant not only for Afghanistan, but for the entire world.
Khairkhwa added that several countries are already engaging with the Taliban and are, in his view, close to recognising the group’s rule. He argued that Russia’s move toward recognition would have positive regional and global repercussions, and that it would encourage international investors to return to Afghanistan.
He also claimed that the Taliban, for the first time in decades, have succeeded in establishing centralised authority across the entire country.
Despite such assertions, most governments and international organisations maintain that the Taliban have not met the key conditions required for recognition. These include forming an inclusive government, ensuring respect for human rights especially women’s rights, and taking credible action against terrorism and drug trafficking.
Many Western and regional governments continue to express concern over the presence of terrorist groups operating from Afghan territory. Pakistan has accused the Taliban of allowing fighters from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch separatist groups to use Afghan soil to launch cross-border attacks, with thousands of militants reportedly based in Afghanistan.
The United Nations and independent international monitors have also raised alarm over the activities of ISIS-K (Islamic State Khorasan Province), while reports suggest al-Qaeda is attempting to re-establish itself in the country.
In addition, the presence of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Uyghur militants, and Ansarullah in Afghanistan is viewed as a serious security concern by China and Central Asian states.