At a UNHCR centre near the Torkham border, an Afghan family recently returned from Pakistan receives a health consultation. © UNHCR/Oxygen Empire Media Production
Geneva: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced today that since September 2023, over 3 million Afghan nationals have returned to their home country from neighbouring nations. This year alone, it is projected that approximately 780,000 individuals will have made the journey back, a figure that notably includes around 351,600 people who were deported. However, they return to a homeland that is “clearly unprepared” to receive them. A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report found that three-quarters of the population lives at the subsistence level, and the UN estimates that half the population needs humanitarian assistance.
The UNHCR, along with its partners, is addressing the large-scale return of Afghan nationals, despite significant cuts in funding, Arafat Jamal, UNHCR’s Representative in Afghanistan, said today.
“To date, UNHCR, other UN agencies, and the international community have played a key role as shock absorbers and stabilisation partners,” Jamal said. According to him, providing returning refugees with cash grants has helped people to invest in their new lives by constructing a house or incubating small businesses. And once back in their home district, UNHCR has been able to support communities through interventions such as clinics, schools, housing and job creation.
“UNHCR has been a dependable partner and supporter of the Afghan people for 40 years. We have supported the governments that have hosted them, and we are with them now as many make the journey back. The return of Afghans can be a source of stability, economic growth and regional harmony – but only if it is done voluntarily and conducted in safety and dignity,” Jamal said.
In light of the deeply troubling financial situation in which the UNHCR find itself, its support for Afghans is diminishing. The cash being provided to returnees at the border has been cut by a factor of seven. With the funding reductions, the Agency’s current assistance packages offer only the most basic humanitarian assistance, which Jamal said was vital, but short-term and far from transformational. “It can help someone survive, but not effectively rebuild,” he said.
The budget cuts are also inhibiting the Agency’s ability to help those who take great personal risks to help the women and girls of Afghanistan — those who believe in their community and strive to create conditions for women to be educated, to work, or even just to enjoy leisure time in public.
“UNHCR funds have helped these courageous actors to protect and safeguard valuable female-oriented projects. Dropping our assistance means abandoning these people who stand against draconian conditions,” Jamal said. He pointed out that even as many are forced to return to Afghanistan, others are preparing to leave the country again – for Iran, Türkiye and Europe.
The international community has invested heavily in Afghanistan over the decades. At this difficult juncture, we still have an opportunity to support stability and economic growth. We call upon neighbouring countries to pursue solutions, treat Afghans with dignity, and work regionally to foster safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable returns.
The UNHCR appealed to the international community not to abandon its investments, to stay the course, and to provide political and financial support that will allow a dispersed people to return and build their futures. UNHCR requires $216 million to fund its response in Afghanistan this year, but has so far received just 25 per cent of that amount.
– global bihari bureau
