The UN has warned relief efforts are overwhelmed as mass deportations from Pakistan and Iran, aid cuts, and economic decline push Afghanistan toward a severe hunger emergency
More than five million people have returned to Afghanistan from neighbouring countries since expulsion policies began in late 2023, with the United Nations warning on Friday that relief efforts are struggling to keep up with thousands of daily arrivals.
The returns are exacerbating a worsening hunger crisis, fueled by mass deportations from Pakistan and Iran, reductions in foreign aid, and an ongoing economic downturn.
“We are deeply concerned about the sustainability of these returns,” Reuters quoted Arafat Jamal, the UN refugee agency representative from Afghanistan, as telling a Geneva press briefing.
“The massive demographic shock of this number of people, which is around 12% of the population, is pushing us to the brink,” added Jamal.
Last year, some 2.9 million people crossed back into Afghanistan, and so far this year, 150,000 people have returned, Jamal said.
UNHCR needs $216 million to support the returnees this year, but the campaign is only 8% funded, he added.
With inputs from agencies
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