Afghanistan: Refugees in Torkham region appeal for relocation to their homes

Nov 15, 2023

Kabul [Afghanistan], November 15 : Refugees who have returned to Afghanistan and taken up temporary housing in the Torkham Crossing region have urged the present administration to expedite the registration and assistance distribution processes so that they can return to their homes as soon as possible, according to TOLOnews.
Before winter approaches, the refugees have requested the Taliban for help.
"We want the government to work for the people who are here and return them to their areas and create a job for them there," a returned refugee, Abdul Waris, said, according to TOLOnews.
"We want them to send us to our areas where, if we don't have land or something else, we will complain on the spot," said Merajddin, another refugee who had returned home.
Meanwhile, the Afghan Red Crescent Society's representatives acknowledged that food assistance would not be able to permanently address the difficulties faced by these returnees, but they emphasised that they would now focus more on the migrants who relocate to isolated parts of the nation.
"We try to bring some aid here, but our main goal is to help the refugees in remote areas," said, Matiul Haq Khalis, the president of the Afghan Red Crescent Society.
Since the Pakistani government announced the deadline, more Afghan immigrants have been returning through the Torkham border; with officials estimating that 500 families use this route daily on average to return to their own country.
A month and a half ago, 55,000 people have entered the nation again through the Torkham border, according to local officials in Nangarhar, TOLOnews reported.
Many of these families have finished registration and biometric procedures.
"55,000 refugees who entered the country through Torkham for one and a half months have returned to the country," the local official in Torkham, Qureshi Badlon said.