Afghanistan
may soon experience a serious humanitarian crisis, as some 600,000
refugees are expected to return by year’s end from neighboring
Pakistan, where they are facing increasing pressure, the
International Organization for Migration warned.
The flow of
refugees from Pakistan to Afghanistan is skyrocketing as Afghans “are
fleeing increased incidents of violence, arbitrary arrest, detention
and other forms of harassment,” the IOM said in a statement on
Friday.
“Given
as little as 48 hours to leave, they are hard pressed to sell off
assets and pack up their homes and possessions. In some instances
people arrive with little more than the clothes on their backs. They
are entering a country wracked by violence, at the peak of the annual
surge in conflict, which together with the imminent onset of winter
makes them especially vulnerable,” the organization said.
Earlier on
Wednesday, the UN appealed for an extra $150 million to provide
shelters, food, and medicine to returning Afghanis for the next three
months.
The number
of registered Afghan refugees leaving Pakistan has surged in the past
three months from 1,250 in June, to 67,057 in August, according to UN
figures. The number is expected to rise further after the Muslim Eid
festival ends in mid-September. The returnees put added pressure on
resources, which are already stretched by some 221,000 internally
displaced people in Afghanistan.
Pakistan had
been a safe haven for hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees since
the 1980s, when Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union. There
are about 1.5 million registered Afghan refugees living in Pakistan,
and an estimated one million illegal immigrants.
Islamabad
has recently begun enforcing long-ignored rules limiting the freedoms
of refugees, including prohibitions on living outside of designated
camps, running a business, or owning real estate, the Economist
reported. The bank accounts of refugees, as well as their mobile
phone SIM-cards, are being shut down. Starting in mid-November,
Afghans wishing to remain in Pakistan are expected to get visas.
“We
cannot overestimate the seriousness of this situation,” IOM
Chief of Mission and Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Laurence Hart,
said this week. “The situation is dire and we expect it to
become far worse as winter approaches.”
Afghanistan
remains in turmoil, as the US-backed government in Kabul has been
unable to take full control of the country and is constantly
challenged by the militant Taliban movement.
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