Officials, Business Leaders Meet in Balkh to Support Returnees

A meeting was held in Balkh province between local officials, traders, and industrialists to create job opportunities and collect assistance for recently returned families.

Local authorities urged business owners and industrialists to support returnee families and cooperate in providing employment opportunities.

The head of Balkh’s Department of Refugees and Repatriation, Asadullah Wafa, said: “We call on traders to create job opportunities for returnees in Balkh. A single sack of flour and oil cannot solve their problems.”

The head of Balkh’s Department of Economy, Sardar Mohammad Haidari, said: “They have rights over us, and we must support and assist them.”

Private sector representatives announced the creation of bank accounts to collect and mobilize financial assistance for returnees and emphasized that these families should be employed in industrial and production facilities.

The head of the Balkh Chamber of Commerce and Investment, Mohammad Ibrahim Ghazanfar, said: “The Chamber considers it its responsibility to play an active role, alongside the people and the government, in supporting returnees.”

Meanwhile, some traders and industrialists described assisting these families as a moral responsibility of society and pledged to continue their support.

The head of the Afghanistan Flour and Grain Association, Mohammad Yasin Wahabzada, said: “The association is ready to cooperate to the best of its ability, in line with the decree of the Amir al-Mu’minin.”

According to figures, since the beginning of the current solar year, around 7,000 families have returned to Balkh from Iran and Pakistan.

These returnee families have consistently identified lack of job opportunities, limited access to social services, and shortage of shelter as their main challenges.