Taliban relocation plan could worsen humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, analysts say

The Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation announced plans this week to return millions of internally displaced people (IDP) to their home villages and provinces in Afghanistan, a move analysts warn could worsen the country’s humanitarian crisis.

“In the first phase, 5,000 displaced families in Kabul would be moved to different places to their places of origin. Most of these families are from [the northeastern province of] Kunduz,” said the ministry’s statement, issued Wednesday.

The Taliban called on national and international organizations to support their relocation plan. “This is a priority for the ministry,” the statement said.

“It is a good decision to relocate displaced families to their communities of origin,” said Sayed Ahmad Selab, the founder of the Selab Charity Foundation and former Afghan parliamentarian, adding, “but it could bring about a humanitarian crisis under the current circumstances.”

Most of these families would not have shelter, Selab said, if they were returned to their provinces.

“They were displaced because of the yearslong conflict and drought. Most of them lost their houses and would have no prospects of jobs and places to live if they were returned,” he said.

The United Nations refugee agency, or UNHCR, says there are 3.2 million IDPs in Afghanistan.

More than 7.6 million Afghans are living as refugees in Pakistan and Iran, including 1.6 million Afghans who left after the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021.

About a year ago, both Iran and Pakistan started forcible repatriation of Afghan refugees from their countries. The Taliban government said in June that around 2,000 Afghans were arriving daily from these countries.

Hafiz Ahmad Miakhil, a former adviser to the Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation, told VOA that he does not think the Taliban “have any policy in place for the relocation plan.”

He told VOA that the Taliban’s ministry is not in a position to undertake the repatriation of millions of internally displaced people.

“For the repatriation of internally displaced people, there is the need to construct schools and provide shelters and health services. The Taliban don’t have the resources to do so,” Miakhil said.

He added that the Taliban would need the support of the international community and for that, the Taliban “have to get recognized nationally and internationally.”

The Taliban, who seized power in August 2021 after the former Afghan government collapsed, are not yet recognized as the legitimate government of Afghanistan by any country.

Under the Taliban, Afghanistan is facing multiple crises. Sanctions against the Taliban, no banking transfers, frozen assets, no access to global institutions and the dwindling of foreign aid have moved millions into poverty and hunger.

There are 11.6 million people who are food insecure in Afghanistan.

In September, the U.N. said that it received only 30% of the $3 billion needed this year for the humanitarian response in the country.

Since returning to power, the Taliban have imposed repressive measures on women and imposed their strict interpretation of Islam in the country.

“The de facto authorities are exacerbating this crisis by policies that focus insufficiently on the real needs of its people and undermine its economic potential,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the U.N. special representative for Afghanistan.

Abdul Hamid Jalili, the former Afghan attache in the Peshawar Consulate, told VOA that the Taliban’s decision to return IDPs to their villages “would bring yet another humanitarian crisis.”