Afghanistan Peace CampaignHe added that thousands of families need humanitarian assistance, but reductions in international aid have left many of them without support.
Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), says that avoiding diplomatic engagement and cutting humanitarian aid have failed to address the challenges facing people in need in Afghanistan and have only increased their suffering.
Egeland, who recently visited the country, said that nearly six million people have returned to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan over the past three years, with many returnees arriving without shelter, jobs, or basic necessities.
He added that thousands of families need humanitarian assistance, but reductions in international aid have left many of them without support.
Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said: “Very few countries have continued providing assistance to the people of Afghanistan, and very few countries are engaging with Afghan authorities to press them to make progress on the rights of girls and women, who have been denied education and employment. Cutting aid and refusing diplomatic engagement do nothing to help millions of people in need; they only deepen their suffering.”
Aziz Maarij, a former diplomat, said: “Overall, global isolation is detrimental to Afghanistan, and as the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council said, cutting diplomatic relations is also harmful to Afghanistan.”
Meanwhile, UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan, during a visit to the Omari refugee camp in the east of Afghanistan, said that more than 500 unaccompanied or separated children had returned over the past seven months.
Tajudeen Oyewale emphasized the need to support returnees in the country.
Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan, said: “Today at the Omari camp, I assessed the situation of children, and from January to July this year, we registered more than 500 children who returned unaccompanied or separated from their families. This is a reminder that the returnee crisis is continuing, and we continue to call on our donors and partners to support efforts to address the situation of the returnee population in Afghanistan.”
Abdul Raziq Adel, a migrant rights activist, said: “The need to support returning migrants is urgent and critical. Afghanistan alone, without international assistance, does not have the capacity to manage returns on this scale.”
Earlier, Zabihullah Mujahid said at an event in Kabul that nearly two million migrants had returned to the country from Pakistan, Iran, and Türkiye over the past year.