Thousands of Afghan migrants are returning to Afghanistan following the worsening economic crisis in Iran, with some saying they have lost their savings and sources of income.

Reuters news agency reported on Thursday, 26 Sunbula, that sharp price increases, the depreciation of Iran’s currency, and unemployment have forced more Afghan migrants to leave the country.

Reuters, citing returning migrants, wrote that many of them had been unemployed for months and faced sharply rising living costs.

Mohammad Saeed, one of the migrants, said the depreciation of the Iranian rial caused his family’s savings to lose more than two-thirds of their value.

According to the report, consumer prices in Iran have risen by nearly 90 percent and food prices by about 130 percent compared to last year.

The International Organization for Migration also said that only 29 percent of Afghan citizens who recently returned from Iran still have savings, and their average income has decreased by nearly one-third compared to before the crisis.

Reuters added that more than two million Afghan citizens have left Iran in the past two years, and in the recent wave of returns, the number of women and complete families has also increased.

Many of these migrants enter Afghanistan through the Islam Qala crossing in Herat province.

Iran has hosted millions of Afghan migrants in recent years.

After the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, many Afghan citizens stayed in or went to Iran for work and to make a living.