Afghanistan’s fragile healthcare system is at breaking point under the strain of hundreds of thousands of Afghans deported from Iran and Pakistan over the past few months, many in urgent need of medical care.

This follows the decision by both Pakistan and Iran to repatriate Afghans, even those with refugee status in the case of Pakistan. Earlier this year, the UN High Commission for Refugees estimated that there were over 3,5 million Afghan refugees in Iran and 1,7 million in Pakistan.

Between January and 13 August, some 1.86 million Afghans have been returned from Iran and over 314,000 from Pakistan, bringing the total returns to over two million people over the past eight months alone.