UN refugee agency voices concern at funding cuts

KABUL (Pajhwok): Supporting the Afghans returning to their homeland from Pakistan, the UN’s refugee agency has voiced concern at funding cuts.

Since September 2023, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says more than three million Afghans have returned to their homeland from neighbouring countries.

These Afghans were either deported or left out of fear of arrest after the Pakistan government announced a plan to repatriate all illegal foreigners.

In 2025 alone, 780,000 Afghans are estimated to have returned home, including 351,600 who were deported, according to information from UNHCR.

UNDP says three-quarters of the population in Afghanistan is barely surviving, with half the population in need of humanitarian assistance.

UNHCR representative in Afghanistan Arafat Jamal said the organisation needed $216 million to fund its response in the country this year, but has so far it had received only 25 percent of that amount.

As a result of funding cuts, the UNHCR has been forced to offer only the most basic humanitarian assistance. “It can help someone survive, but not effectively rebuild.”

Additionally, the budget reduc are also inhibiting the UNHCR’s initiative to support those who help Afghan women and girls at risk.

The UNHCR said the international community had invested heavily in Afghanistan over the decades and called for continued support for stability and economic growth.

It added: “We call upon neighbouring countries to pursue solutions, treat Afghans with dignity, and work regionally to foster safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable returns.”

The UN body urged the international community to “not abandon its investments, to stay the course and to provide political and financial support” for dispersed Afghans to “return and build their futures”.

“We have supported the governments that have hosted them and we are with them now as many make the journey back.”

pr/mud