KANDAHAR CITY (SW): Thousands of repatriated Afghan families from Pakistan are facing acute shortages of shelter, food and other livelihoods in southern Kandahar province.
These repatriated families told Salam Watandar (SW) that they have asked for help and support from all relevant quarters but their appeals fell on deaf ears. As per reports, as many as 4000 families have recently returned to Afghanistan via the Spin Boldak crossing point with Pakistan.
In conversation with SW, the heads of such families that recently came back to Afghanistan said they are in desperate situation. Esmatullah was one of them. “It has been three months that we have moved back to Afghanistan from Queeta, we have not received a single penny of aid or support so far”, he said. He added that they have no choice but to live in open air with no food or shelter.
Meanwhile, officials at the local department for refugees and repatriates, while admitting that these people are faced with troubles, said they have not much to offer to them. Mohammad Husain Sabit, an official at this department said that they only assist the aid agencies in conducting surveys about the situation, and actually cannot provide aid or support themselves. “Our department has nothing available at its disposal, and we admit that the repatriated families are faced with all these troubles”, he said.
This comes at a time when more and more repatriated families are returning to Afghanistan after facing persecution in Pakistan.
ENDS
