A statement from the IOM received said Deputy Director General, Ambassador Laura Thompson, during a meeting with the minister of refugees and repatriation on Sunday informed about the increase in the aid for undocumented returnees.
Laura Thompson visited the Torkham border crossing on Sunday, 19 May as part of her three-day mission to Afghanistan.
IOM has been providing post-arrival humanitarian assistance to undocumented returnees from Pakistan at the Torkham border crossing since 2012.
To better respond to the continuing and growing influx of returnees, IOM recently completed a significant expansion of one its four Transit Centers located on Afghanistan’s borders with Pakistan and Iran, where the returnees receive assistance.
The aid includes household supplies, food, temporary accommodation, medical care and onward transportation assistance to their final destination in Afghanistan
The expansion work at the Torkham Transit Center has doubled the accommodation capacity, with the ability to host 30 families or 210 individuals at any one time.
The statement quoted Thompson as saying the assistances level to undocumented Afghan refugees had been increased as compared to the past as earlier 10-15 percent of refugees were assisted but now the figure had went up to 90 percent.
The statement said the refugees and repatriations minister, Sayed Hussain Alami Balkhi, demanded more support for the returning families.
Balkhi said after the closure of Islam Qala border crossing in Herat about 3,000 to 4,000 Afghan returnees crossed into Nimroz province from Iran on a daily basis with 40 to 50 percent of the families needed humanitarian aid. He asked the IOM and European countries to increase their assistance for Afghan families.
Laura promised to discuss the issues of refugees returning via Nimroz with donor organizations and would make efforts at attracting aid for them.
sns/ma
Views: 9
GET IN TOUCH
NEWSLETTER
SUGGEST A STORY
PAJHWOK MOBILE APP