The United Nations and Afghan partner aid agencies stated on Tuesday (November 7th) that they urgently need funding to provide "upon arrival" assistance to hundreds of Afghan families returning from neighboring Pakistan every day to avoid arrest and deportation.
In a statement, the United Nations humanitarian coordination agency stated that "over 60% of the arrivals are children. Their situation is very bad, and many people have been exhausted on the journey for many days, not knowing where to return, so they are stranded at the border
Daniel Endres, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan, visited the Tokham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan to meet with new arrivals and assess the situation. On the second day of this visit, he made the above statement on the information platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
In early October, the Pakistani government ordered the expulsion of all undocumented foreigners, including 1.7 million Afghans, and warned that those who remained in Pakistan after November 1st would be arrested and deported back to their countries of origin.
According to the Taliban government in Afghanistan, over 200000 people have returned to Afghanistan after the Pakistani order, and the number is increasing day by day. Afghans also returned home through the Chaman border crossing in southwestern Pakistan.
The Taliban have established temporary camps on the border side to provide immediate shelter, food, medical care, and other services for returning families.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) stated on Tuesday that "the demand for Tolkam is enormous", with hundreds of families arriving every day and the number expected to increase. Naseeb Mashal, IRC Senior Regional Coordinator for Afghanistan, stated that people are expected to continue arriving in the next six months.
Our medical team has treated many people, including children, who suffered serious injuries during the long and arduous journey across the mountains to Afghanistan, "Mashal said. He also added that many of the new arrivals were women and girls.
As winter approaches, the IRC is deeply concerned about the survival of people sleeping in tents or outdoors, as temperatures continue to decline and heavy rain is expected in mid December, "Marshall warned
He stated that humanitarian relief operations require emergency funding from the international community to help meet the needs of thousands of new arrivals in transit areas and in the provinces of Afghanistan that will eventually become their settlements.
After decades of conflict, instability, and economic crisis, Afghanistan will find it difficult to accommodate these families, many of whom have not lived here for decades. There are now over six million displaced persons in Afghanistan, and Afghans returning from Pakistan face a bleak future, "Mashal warned.
The Taliban has condemned Pakistan's expulsion plan, and the global refugee agency led by the United Nations has repeatedly urged Islamabad to suspend the expulsion operation, citing that Afghanistan has already fallen into a serious humanitarian crisis.
Pakistan has rejected calls to stop suppressing foreigners residing illegally in the country.
The policy is very clear. Individuals who immigrate illegally, do not have legal documents, and have expired visas will be repatriated. Therefore, there will be no reconsideration of this policy at this time, "said Mumtaz Zohra Baloch, a spokesperson for the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She told reporters at last Thursday's weekly press conference, "We have discussed this plan with the Afghan authorities. We have shared the details of the plan, the ideas behind it, why we are doing it, and how we will do it
The spokesperson reiterated that approximately 1.4 million Afghans registered as refugees in Pakistan and another 880000 Afghans with legal status are not targeted.
Pakistan's caretaker interior minister, Sarfaraz Bugti, stated that the surge in terrorist attacks in the country is the reason for ordering undocumented foreigners to leave, and claimed that 14 of the 24 suicide attacks this year were carried out by Afghan nationals. In 2023, armed violence has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Pakistanis, most of whom are security forces personnel.
Pakistani officials insist that fugitive militants allied with the Taliban are increasingly planning cross-border attacks from shelters on Afghan territory. Taliban officials have denied this accusation.
Since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the late 1970s, Afghanistan has been plagued by more than 40 years of hostilities, and natural disasters have prompted millions of citizens to flee this impoverished country to neighboring Pakistan and Iran. According to reports, the Iranian authorities have also repatriated over 120000 Afghans in the past two months.
United Nations officials estimate that after the Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021, over 600000 Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan. With the withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years, this hardline organization regained control of the regime.
Many new refugees in Pakistan have expressed their unwillingness to return because they are concerned about retaliation and abuse by the Taliban due to their connection with foreign forces led by the United States.