The Country Director for the World Food Program (WFP) in Afghanistan, Hsiao-Wei Lee, while visiting the crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan said that, she witnesses a daily exodus of thousands of Afghan families forced to leave behind everything in Pakistan and they return to Afghanistan at the worst of times with no food, little resources and nowhere to go.
According to Lee, it is particularly dire as the harsh Afghan winter is only weeks away and as a country still reels from devastating earthquakes, a battered economy and a worsening climate crisis.
“Many of the families returning have lived most of their lives in Pakistan they are hungry, destitute and face a bleak future in a country where one third of the people don’t know where their next meal comes from,” said Lee.
She said that WFP is on the ground providing food and cash and has already supported over 200,000 people over the last few weeks.
Lee called for urgent funding as they are running out of budget for helping Afghan returnees.
“We are quickly running out of money. We urgently need $16 million dollars to help 1 million people start over and rebuild their lives,” she added.
