Barham Salih, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and Alexander De Croo, United Nations Development Programme Administrator, reached Kabul on Sunday, July 5, 2026, for a joint mission targeting both the humanitarian and developmental aspects related to the Afghan situation, which is seen to be the most significant U.N. interaction with the country since the Taliban took control in August 2021. As per the report issued by the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation of Afghanistan, both dignitaries were received at Kabul International Airport by the Deputy Minister, Abdul Rahman Rashid. The visit is made against the backdrop of over 5.4 million Afghans who have come back to the country from Iran and Pakistan since October 2023 following mass expulsions, while over 22 million people in Afghanistan need humanitarian help.

According to Salih, the aim of the delegation’s visit was to assess the problems being faced by the Afghan population and find solutions to these issues, based on news reports in Afghanistan of his comments during the welcome speech. De Croo highlighted that the UN had a very strong presence in Afghanistan and that it would continue to support Afghanistan in the form of development, healthcare and humanitarian aid, and would make efforts to create job opportunities for Afghans. Rashid extended his warm welcome to the delegation, saying that a field visit gives a much more precise picture than anything written in the report, and hoped that increasing international focus on refugees would safeguard their dignity. According to UNHCR, out of the total number of 5.4 million Afghans returning since October 2023, a total of 232,500 have returned in 2026 alone; 146,206 from Pakistan and 86,253 from Iran, all coming back under difficult conditions and in a country struggling economically and with strict limitations, especially for women and girls.

This UNHCR-UNDP visit embodies a wider change in the approach of the United Nations towards protracted displacements, where the U.N. moves from emergency assistance to durable solutions involving humanitarian efforts coupled with development, employment opportunities, and other services in the long run. The success of such an approach depends on many variables beyond the control of the U.N., including the readiness of the hosting countries to offer protection, the capacity of the international community to provide financial aid, and humanitarian access to vulnerable groups of people, especially women, girls, and returning refugees. The message that this visit gives is that the top U.N. management continues to see the need for continued engagement as a precondition for a durable solution.

The current wave of mass returns stems from the policies introduced after the Taliban’s rise to power in August 2021. By October 2023, Pakistan had adopted its plan to repatriate illegal foreigners. Similarly, Iran moved along the same lines, and by early 2025, the respective government authorities started pulling back previous protective measures. According to UNHCR, in the period until the end of 2025, there were 3.7 million Afghan refugees in the world, which is a 36 percent decrease in comparison with the previous year due to mass returns rather than any developments in Afghanistan. Four out of five of the mentioned Afghan refugees stay in either Iran or Pakistan. The Salih-De Croo mission draws on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and United Nations Development Programme Joint Collaboration Framework 2026-2030, concluded in Tokyo in May 2026. This document is aimed at shifting the work of the two organizations from coordination to joint strategic delivery. “Humanitarian assistance saves lives, but it cannot be the endpoint,” said Salih on the signing of the mentioned framework.

It all hinges on whether the high-level engagement bears fruit in terms of concrete results for those arriving at reception centers in places such as Islam Qala and Spin Boldak, among others. Salih has laid out what UNHCR calls the organization’s “50 by 35” agenda; that is, to halve within ten years the population of refugees who are displaced in a protracted way by ensuring education, employment, healthcare, and social protection opportunities. Making this dream come true in Afghanistan requires sustained support from the donors, re-establishment of legal protection channels in the host countries, and continuous diplomatic engagement of the factors that cause the displacement. The next few months will be critical not in terms of this particular mission, but in terms of whether the vision for durable solutions through this mission will materialize on the ground.