KABUL: King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center has been distributing aid to thousands of Afghans repatriated from Pakistan — most returning to start over with nothing.

Millions of Afghans found refuge in Pakistan during decades of conflict, after their homeland was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1979. Over the years, some would return, and some more would flee Afghanistan — most recently when the Taliban took over the war-torn country following the withdrawal of US-led forces in 2021.

But since October, around half a million of them have made their way back as Pakistani authorities launched a nationwide crackdown on undocumented foreign nationals.

The decision covered all the foreigners deemed as living in the country illegally, but it hit Afghans the most as some 1.7 million of them — out of the total of 4 million — were living in Pakistan unregistered.

The Afghan government has promised support for the returnees, but the $140 it had pledged for each returning family is a drop in the ocean of needs. Most returnees are back with no place to stay, no means to sustain themselves, and no work.

Those who have most recently entered Afghanistan through the Spin Boldak crossing in the southern Kandahar province are receiving food assistance from KSrelief this week.

“We are thankful to KSrelief for its continuous assistance to the Afghan people,” Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, spokesman of the Ministry of Refugees and Reparation, told Arab News.

“As per our data, the majority of those returning are children.”

The Afghan Red Crescent Society, which is distributing the aid, said in a statement that the packages containing staples such as flour, cooking oil, beans, sugar and dates have already reached 400 families.

They will allow each family to stay afloat for at least several weeks.

The unprecedented number of people arriving in such a short time leaves the Afghan government struggling to address their fundamental needs, including also shelter and work.

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, the country has been hit by international sanctions and its unemployment has more than doubled as it is struggling with a collapsing economy.

Those who have returned from Pakistan had to leave behind whatever they had built over the years.

“It will be very hard when you are starting your life from zero,” Haqqani said.
“Some of them have spent even 40 years in Pakistan and left everything there.”