KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) –Some 95,000 vulnerable and needy families need aid and support amid the harsh winter across the country, officials at the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation said on Wednesday.
Syed Hussain Alami Balkhi, minister for the MoRR, told a moot in connection with the World Migration Day, that 50,000 families have received support from national and international institutions and 12,000 more needy families have been supported by the government. But, he said, there is no specific funding to help the other 28,000 needy families.
The minister called on the government to launch plans to help these families and prevent a humanitarian disaster in the harsh cold season.
Minister Balkhi said the number of internally displaced persons this year is up to 600,000. In the last eighteen years, he said, more than 10 million people have returned to Afghanistan, of which 4 million have returned to the country in five years of the National Unity Government. He said there are some 6 million Afghans migrants abroad, mostly in Iran and Pakistan.
He urged neighboring and European countries not to forcibly deport Afghan migrants.
Speaking on the occasion, deputy speaker of the Masharano Jirga (upper house), Mohammad Alem Izdiyar, said the MoRR has not been adequately funded in recent years. According to him, lack of funding and facilities for the Ministry is one of the ministry's tangible challenges.
On Tuesday, the UN Global Initiative meeting on the Status of Asylum Seekers was held in Geneva, Switzerland. At the meeting, the issues of asylum-seekers were discussed.
Salam Watandar has specific plans in place to prevent the phenomenon of irregular migration from spreading. These programs are categorized into different categories.
ENDS
