145 Million Afghani Distributed to Returnees Deported from Pakistan

Officials at the temporary Omari Camp in the Torkham township have reported the distribution of 145 million afghani since April this year to nearly 20,000 families who were forcibly deported from Pakistan.

Abdul Hadi Akhundzada, head of the financial committee at Omari Camp, said: “We have distributed 145 million afghani. The distribution was as follows: families of two, three, or four members received 2,000 afghani per person, while families with five or more members received 10,000 afghani.”

Meanwhile, a number of recently deported migrants have called on the caretaker government to provide greater support in the form of employment opportunities and shelter.

Nik Mohammad, who was expelled from Pakistan along with his family, described the dire situation Afghan migrants faced there: “We were doing different jobs—one of us worked as a butcher, another in a hotel, and some did labor work. Even so, the situation deteriorated, and migrants were being expelled. We had to abandon everything and return.”

In addition to joblessness, the lack of shelter is another major challenge faced by those returning from Pakistan.

Safiullah, another deportee, told :  “We left behind our shop and all our business. We have no home here and don’t know what we will do. For now, we’ve decided to go to Mazar-e-Sharif and stay with our relatives.”

As the pace of deportations from Pakistan and Iran accelerates, the Housing and Urban Development Ministry-led Settlement Committee has begun constructing residential towns in several provinces to provide housing for returning migrants.