250,000 child returnees need food, education

KABUL (Pajhwok): About 250,000 Afghan children returning from Pakistan in the past seven months need proper homes, food and access to education, a global charity said on Thursday.

Save the Children said it surveyed the families that returned to Afghanistan since September and the communities hosting them.

The survey found 99 percent of the returnees did not have enough food for the next one to two months.

The NGO  said about 40 percent of returnees and host families surveyed had to borrow food or rely on friends and relatives for at least three days a week.

Thirteen percent of returnees and nine percent of host families say they have to get food from others every day.

Nearly one in six families live in tents, with most returnees having little or no means to support themselves, according to the survey.

Almost half of the repatriates (47%) said there were no jobs available in Afghanistan. Of those polled, 81 percent say  they do not have any skills needed for employment.

Of the children returning to Afghanistan, 65 percent have not been enrolled in school, with 85 percent saying they don’t have the necessary documents to register and get admissions.

Arshad Malik, country director for Save the Children, said: “Families are returning to Afghanistan with virtually nothing. Most are relying on relatives or friends to support them – and these communities already have little to support themselves.

“The return of so many people is creating an additional strain on already overstretched resources. Children need support and stability. Many undocumented Afghan children were born in Pakistan - Afghanistan is not the place they call home.”

He said Afghanistan was struggling to cope with the pressure of displacement. In addition to the returns from Pakistan, 600,000 Afghans arrived from Iran last year

Malik added families had been forced from their homes by multiple disasters, including the series of earthquakes in Herat and the ongoing drought.

“Afghanistan not only needs urgent funding from international donors and governments - we also need long-term, community-based solutions to help all displaced Afghans rebuild their lives.”

pr/mud