UN Habitat warns ‘a real challenge ahead’ on Afghan returnees to rebuild lives

By Anjali Sharma

UNITED NATIONS – UN Habitat agency on Sunday said that millions of people returning to Afghanistan from neighboring Pakistan and Iran are receiving humanitarian support at the border, but they will need more help to rebuild their lives.

Stephanie Loose, Programme Manager in Afghanistan said that “The real challenge is still ahead of us”.

“We’re speaking about the reintegration of people who’ve lost their homes, who’ve lost their assets and also their hope.”

Afghanistan is currently facing an unprecedented returnee crisis, she stated

Some 3 million Afghans living in Pakistan and Iran were either deported or voluntarily repatriated, with over two million arriving so far this year.  For some, it’s not a return but a new start.

“Many of the returnees don’t have a place to go in Afghanistan because they’ve never actually lived in Afghanistan,” Ms. Loose said.

“Sixty per cent of those who are returning now are below 18, so they don’t have any social ties, they don’t have any networks, and there is a real risk for them taking negative coping mechanisms.”

The returnees are under Taliban rule and where half the population 22.9 million people  requires humanitarian assistance amid economic, human rights and climate-related crises.

Ms. Loose noted that Taliban edicts preventing women and girls from attending secondary school, getting a job, or going outside without a male chaperone, present a serious challenge to returnees.

“They’re being pushed back into a country where there’s no education for girls beyond 12, where they don’t actually know where to go, and where there’s actually specifically for women and girls no social and no economic development opportunities,” she said.

“We also have women-headed households who return to the country. So, you can just imagine actually what it means to them. They cannot actually leave their houses without being accompanied by a mahram, a male guardian, even if they want to go and see a doctor.”

She added that integration is likely to be further complicated by the high level of needs in Afghanistan, given the fragile political, economic and social situation, linked to more than four decades of conflict.

Afghanistan is the top 10 countries impacted by climate change, and droughts, floods and heat waves have taken a toll on rural livelihoods.

They also threaten people living in informal settlements in urban areas who account for up to 80 per cent of the population in these locations.

Ms. Loose stressed that rebuilding lives goes beyond emergency aid, given the scale of needs across Afghanistan.

“People need access to basic services, to water, to sanitation.  And overall, they do need livelihood opportunities…to lead their lives in dignity and to support their families,” she said.

She said that reintegrating large numbers of displaced people will require huge efforts from the international community and the Afghan authorities.

“It is a humanitarian crisis for individuals, but demands systemic, locally grounded approaches, and strong investment in basic services, infrastructures, housing solutions and livelihood opportunities,” she said.

Ms. Loose urged the international community not to forget about Afghanistan and its people, especially women and girls, and to ensure adequate funding is made available so that they can live in dignity.