GENEVA, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Over five million people have returned to Afghanistan from neighbouring states since expulsion policies began in late 2023, prompting the United Nations to warn on Friday that relief efforts are becoming overwhelmed by thousands of daily arrivals.
Afghanistan is contending with a worsening hunger crisis driven by the mass deportations of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran, foreign aid cuts and economic crisis.
“We are deeply concerned about the sustainability of these returns,” Arafat Jamal, the U.N. refugee agency representative from Afghanistan, told a Geneva press briefing. “The massive demographic shock of this number of people, which is around 12% of the population, is pushing us to the brink.”
Last year, some 2.9 million people crossed back into Afghanistan, and so far this year, 150,000 people have returned, Jamal said.
UNHCR needs $216 million to support the returnees this year, but the campaign is only 8% funded, he added.
(Reporting by Emma Farge, editing by Thomas Seythal)
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