'Far greater humanitarian crisis is just beginning': UNHCR on situation in Afghanistan

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi reiterated a call for borders to remain open and for more countries to share "this humanitarian responsibility" with Iran and Pakistan which already host 2.2 million Afghans.

 

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The UN refugee agency urged the Taliban and all other parties to uphold human rights, especially those of women and girls. The UN agency said that the evacuation effort has undoubtedly saved tens of thousands of lives, but some 39 million Afghans will still remain inside Afghanistan after 'the airlift and the media frenzy' are over.

 

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"The airlifts out of Kabul will end in a matter of days, and the tragedy that has unfolded will no longer be as visible. But it will still be a daily reality for millions of Afghans. We must not turn away. A far greater humanitarian crisis is just beginning," UN High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement.

 

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"They need us – governments, humanitarians, ordinary citizens – to stay with them and stay the course," the UNHCR said.

 

UNHCR had said last Friday that up to 5,00,000 Afghans could flee the war-torn country by year-end.

 

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The UN refugee agency claimed that around 3.5 million people have already been displaced by violence within Afghanistan and more than half a million since the start of this year. 

 

"The airlifts out of Kabul will end in a matter of days, and the tragedy that has unfolded will no longer be as visible.  But it will still be a daily reality for millions of Afghans.  We must not turn away.  A far greater humanitarian crisis is just beginning," the UNHCR said.

 

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Earlier on Monday, as many as five rockets were fired at Kabul's international airport but were intercepted by the US anti-missile defences.

 

The local media claimed that the rocket attack was launched from the back of a vehicle and struck different parts of the Afghan capital.

 

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Meanwhile, the casualties in the US airstrike in Afghanistan's capital Kabul increased to at least 10 including children on Monday. The attack by the United States military forces to 'eliminate an imminent ISIS-K' threat to the Hamad Karzai International airport in Kabul has reportedly killed four kids. 

 

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This is to be noted that the Kabul airport has been witnessing a massive airlift by US and allied forces that are trying to evacuate their citizens and Afghans desperate to leave the war-torn country since the Taliban took control on August 15.

 

(Photo: Reuters)