Charting Mass Internal Displacement in Afghanistan

As the Taliban strengthen their control over Afghanistan, a large-scale internal displacement crisis is unfolding. Prior to the current unrest, some 3.5 million people were already forcibly displaced within the country’s borders. Recent estimates suggest that another 550,000 individuals have been displaced since the start of 2021, of which 80 percent are women and children. These figures likely underestimate the extent of the growing emergency, as current estimates do not account for the widespread turmoil that followed the fall of Kabul on August 15. The worsening security situation and the Taliban’s medieval grip on society will likely force more Afghans to flee their homes in the coming days and weeks. With few avenues through which to escape the country, many will join the ranks of the over 4 million internally displaced people in Afghanistan.

Matthew Funaiole is a senior fellow for data analysis with the iDeas Lab and a senior fellow with the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. Erol Yayboke is a senior fellow with the International Security Program and director of the Project on Fragility and Mobility at CSIS.

Graphic by Emily Tiemeyer.

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