KABUL (Pajhwok): The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has appealed for 620 million dollars to protect and support Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan.
UNHCR wrote on its X handle the fund would protect and assist 4.8 million Afghans and 2.5 million host community members in 2024.
It said in addition to deportation of Afghan refugees from neighbouring Pakistan and Iran, devastating natural disasters, climate change and deadly earthquakes had worsened the situation in Afghanistan in 2022 and 2023.
It added about 23.7 million people were in urgent need of humanitarian assistance to survive.
UNHCR emphasised the situation in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries would be challenging in 2024.
Iran and Pakistan are hosting about 7.7 million Afghan citizens, with around 1.6 million entering the two countries since 2021.
Some Pakistan media outlets recently reported the newly-elected government planned to launch the second phase of repatriating Afghan refugees after Eid-ul-Fitr.
In the first round of repatriation of “undocumented aliens” in November last year, Pakistan is believed to have expelled more than half a million Afghans.
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