Over 18,000 Afghan migrants returned to Afghanistan from Islamabad and Rawalpindi in January, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported. According to the organization, 9,846 Afghan returnees were identified through border crossing points of Torkham, Chaman, Ghulam Khan, Badini, and Bahramcha.Since September 15, 2023, at least 824,568 individuals have returned to Afghanistan while two percent (18,577) of this total has returned since January 2025, the IOM said.The IOM said 10 percent of the returnee households were women-headed households, adding that no child-headed households were recorded during the said period. More men (52 percent) than women (48 percent) returned during the reporting period.According to the report, the fear of arrest (78 percent) and inability to pay house rent (34 percent) are the most common reasons for the return cited among the heads of households returning to Afghanistan.The inability to pay household utilities (30 percent), no employment (26 percent), and communal pressure to return (nine percent) were also cited among reasons. The IOM also stated that the fear of arrest and communal pressure to return both increased in the past two weeks.In addition, 89 percent of Afghans reported family reunions as the reason for choosing their final destination and 67 percent noted the availability of assistance in Afghanistan as another reason.  The post IOM reports rise in repatriation of Afghan refugees from Islamabad, Rawalpindi  first appeared on Ariana News.