Health services to be expanded urgently for return refugees at Torkham border
Afghanistan’s health ministry said Tuesday it is expanding health services at Torkham in Nangarhar to cope with the growing number of returning refugees from Pakistan.
According to a statement issued by the ministry, a coordination meeting was recently held to discuss the expansion of health services.
The meeting was chaired by Mawlawi Aminullah Sharif, Director of Public Health in Nangarhar Province, and attended by representatives from various organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and other partners.
The meeting focused on improving emergency preparedness and response, enhancing healthcare support for returnees, and addressing current operational challenges, the statement read.
Officials emphasized the urgent need to strengthen health service delivery in response to the growing number of returning citizens.
Tens of thousands of Afghans are facing dire conditions in makeshift camps after crossing the border from Pakistan, an Islamic Relief assessment team reported on Monday.
“Many are arriving in Afghanistan without any shelter, food, cash or water, and families told us they had to leave all their possessions – including animals and household utensils – behind as they cannot afford to bring them,” Islamic Relief said in the report.
Ramin Sadat from Islamic Relief was part of an assessment team at the Torkham border crossing in eastern Afghanistan. He said this new wave of returning refugees “is unlike anything I’ve seen before. People arrive in droves, covered in dust, crammed onto trucks, and facing a barren border with no basic services in sight. The first thing that greets them is a harsh, windy storm swirling with dust.”
Tens of thousands of families are expected to arrive in the coming days and months, in the wake of the Pakistan government’s announcement that all undocumented individuals and holders of Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) must leave the country by 31 March 2025 or face deportation.
Since 1 April at least 44,900 people have returned, with around 58% of them children, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
