UNHCR spokesman Nadir Farhad receives an interview with Xinhua News Agency in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, June 19, 2017. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is continuing to assist the Afghan returnees and displaced persons at a time when the country has been suffering from armed conflicts and economic woes. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah)
by Farid Behbud
KABUL, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is continuing to assist the Afghan returnees and displaced persons at a time when the country has been suffering from armed conflicts and economic woes, an official from the aid agency has said.
"The UNHCR remains committed and engaged in providing the assistance needed, including protection assistance as well as non-food and food assistance, as a humanitarian agency, for the displaced population, as well as returnees," UNHCR spokesman Nadir Farhad told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Against the backdrop of the World Refugee Day which falls on June 20, Farhad noted that the long-term solution to the Afghan Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees' life had been directly linked to the overall level of stability, peace and harmony in Afghanistan.
"There is no doubt that more stability, peace and tranquility in Afghanistan will provide the situation for more people to come back to their country, for more people to be absorbed back into their communities and more ground will be paved for them to facilitate the sustainable reintegration back into their community," he said on Monday.
More than 1.1 million people have been displaced by the conflict over the past 16 years in Afghanistan, including more than 600,000 people in 2016, according to official statistics.
"No doubt security situations everywhere, not only in Afghanistan, but in every country can play a major factor for the repatriation of the people to their communities. In Afghanistan sadly more recently we have seen an increase in the numbers of those displaced. In Afghanistan, last year we had over 600,000 people that became displaced within their country, we also have had a large number of people who came back to their country in the last quarter of 2016, especially from Pakistan," Farhad noted.
In March this year, China offered 100 million U.S. dollars in efforts to assist the Afghan returnees and to further boost bilateral ties with the neighboring country.
The fund provided by China to Afghan returnees was channeled through the UNHCR and had been rendered to the refugees who recently returned to the country.
Continued Taliban-led insurgency, insecurity incidents, high rate of unemployment and poverty have been the main obstacles to delay the return of more than 4 million Afghan refugees from abroad.
"In the past five years, we have seen an increase in the number of displacements. last year we saw about 650,000 people becoming displaced internally within the country, so far this year, in the past six months we have seen over 100,000 that became displaced in Afghanistan," he said.
Farhad said the main reason for the displacement is armed conflicts, "because of the ongoing clashes in some parts of the country, especially in provinces where they are witnessing an increase in the level of insurgency and violence."
Afghan Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Affairs Sayed Hossein Alimi Balkhi recently said that the government would provide land for the returnees to build homes and reintegrate into their communities.
However, the returnees are doubtful about the government's ability to efficiently provide shelter and new opportunities for the former refugees returning home.
Since 2002, Afghanistan has seen the largest assisted voluntary repatriation operation in the world with some 5.8 million Afghans, or approximately 20 percent of the population, being repatriated from Pakistan, Iran and other countries, according to Farhad.
"Repatriation of such a massive number in less than 12 or 13 years to Afghanistan has certainly posed the issue of the pressure on absorption capacity of the government and the country."
"What they need the most is long-term, sustainable development so that they could eventually be able to be absorbed back into their country, and to be able to restart their lives in their home village," he said.
The aid agency official said the challenges are "enormous" for returnees and IDPs, "not only from a security perspective, but also from a humanitarian development point of view."
"What we are doing as the UNHCR is to ensure that the returnees' needs and the IDPs needs are met, however enormous these needs are and it requires long-term and sustainable development programs," he noted.
The Afghan civilians continue to bear the brunt of armed conflicts as 715 civilians were killed and over 1,460 others injured in conflict-related incidents across Afghanistan in the first three months of this year, according to figures released by the United Nations mission in the country.
