UNHCR demands $620.4 millions to assist Afghan migrants

KABUL (TOLOnews): The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has announced in a report a request for $620.4 million in aid for Afghan migrants in Iran and Pakistan.

According to the report, with the provision of this budget, assistance will be provided for 4.8 million Afghan migrants and 2.5 million members of the host communities in Iran and Pakistan in 2024.

The situation in Afghanistan and the neighboring countries is described as challenging in this report.

Many Afghan migrants in Iran and Pakistan said they are in a bad economic situation, and they have not received assistance from any institution so far.

“No one has helped the Afghans so far and no one is helping them,” Akbar Sultani, a migrant in Iran, told TOLOnews.

Officials in the Islamic Emirate also emphasized the continuation of assistance for migrants who have been expelled from Pakistan and Iran.

The deputy Minister of Economy, Abdul Latif Nazari, said, “Our request is that our migrants be further supported in job creation, housing, and cash assistance.”

“They only provide these people with food security assistance, so they don’t die and just eat and sit, and they make them do very simple labor, which is a bad and unjust practice,” Sayed Massoud, an economic analyst, told TOLOnews.

According to the report of UNHCR, devastating natural disasters such as the climate change crisis, floods, and deadly earthquakes in Afghanistan, as well as floods and destructive earthquakes in Iran and Pakistan in recent years, have also worsened the situation in these countries.

According to statistics, Iran and Pakistan are currently hosting about 7.7 million Afghan citizens.