Afghanistan

Meanwhile, UNHCR alongside partners is working to address the urgent needs of those arriving – food, water, shelter, protection. However its programmes are also under severe strain due to limited funding.

Meanwhile, the de facto authorities have conveyed grievances around frozen assets, sanctions, non-recognition, the need for greater development assistance, and an end to aid dependency.

The decline in support follows the suspension of US assistance, which previously accounted for nearly half of the international funding directed toward Afghanistan’s healthcare.

Since September 2023, nearly a million Afghans, 545,000 of them children, have returned, often with little more than a few belongings in hand and no clear idea of what lies ahead.

With reduced aid, already fragile services are deteriorating, and local efforts to compensate remain insufficient.

The Afghan caretaker government is working to assist the sudden influx of returnees. Local officials in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces have been coordinating transportation to help families return to their hometowns.

In line with Taliban practice, the punishment was carried out by family members of the murder victims, who shot the accused men in front of gathered crowds. Civil servants, military personnel, and ordinary citizens were invited to the events via official announcements widely circulated on Thursday.

The refugees contended that despite possessing valid documentation authorising their stay in Pakistan, they were being targeted in the expulsion drive, detained without cause, and in some cases deported.